A Foxes Tale
by Chrisdz
Summary: Naruto always knew he was special, just never how much. Fortunately for him Mizuki's trechery leads to discovery. Now with true knowledge of self he sets out to take the world by storm. I don't own Naruto or any thing this happens to cross with
1. Chapter 1

Naruto: A Foxes Tale

Chapter 1

AU: Yo this ya boy Chrisdz back again with another new fic for ya. This one is a straight Naruto fic though it will crossover slightly with Bleach, Inuyasha and YuYu Hakusho. Not sure about the pairing yet but may be a harem.

Start Now:

Uzumaki Naruto is a boy well known for his seemingly unlimited stamina. He was known to be able to outrun numerous chuunin, jounin, and in some cases members of the ANBU. That is the reason why if any one of those people were to see him now they would be surprised at the sight that greeted them.

Within the walls of his apartment the boy lye staring up at the ceiling with unseeing blue eyes. The light usually found within the boys eyes was gone and if one was to look into them they would find they barely held any life within them at all. The smile that usually graced his face had also disappeared leaving his face emotionless as he was too far gone to even frown. For the first time Uzumaki Naruto was physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausted. Finally after nearly two hours of staring up at the ceiling his body shut down and he fell into unconsciousness.

Upon opening his eyes Naruto found his mood worsening as he discovered he had somehow ended up within a sewer lying in the water. Before he could even fully register his surroundings he found himself standing, his body moving forward on its own accord. After several minutes during which he'd made dozens of twist and turns a red glow caught his eye from the end of the hall.

As his body began to move towards the glow Naruto suddenly felt like one of the fools in the horror movies he'd been able to sneak in and see. It was always the same as they would always walk directly to the trouble and get killed, something he himself had avoided doing for the last twelve and a half years. Before he could think more on the subject he found himself fully immersed by the red glow before it suddenly cleared.

When it did he found himself in a large room. In front of him sat a large cage with golden bars that had a single strip of paper holding the doors closed. It was what was behind the bars that caught his attention though as he found himself staring into a pair of golden eyes. He blushed suddenly as he realized that he was standing there only in a pair of boxers as the eyes looked him over. As he moved his eyes away his blush quickly faded and he paled as he beheld just who he was standing in front of. For there in front of him was who was rumored to be destruction incarnate, the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"**You have no need to fear me Naruto.**" Came a surprisingly soft and kind voice.

For some reason as the voice hit his ears Naruto found himself relaxing at the sound of the voice. Despite everything that told him he should fear the creature in front of him or run as fast as his legs could carry him he found himself calming down as his heartbeat slowing back to normal.

"**That's my kit**. **Now why don't you relax we have much to discuss.**" Spoke Kyuubi once more. Once again Naruto found himself obeying without hesitation as he sat down in front of the cage.

"**Now then I should start by introducing myself. As you know I am known as Kyuubi no Kitsune but that is merely a title that was given to me. My true name however is Uzumaki Kushina and I am your mother**." As she said this Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.

Before he could say anything there was a puff of smoke and the fox was gone. In its place was a woman who stood at just under 5'5". She had long bright red hair and a pair of deep violet eyes in the same shape as his blue ones. She wore a beige short sleeve shirt that stopped just at her midsection and a skirt of the same color. Judging by the fishnet he saw she wore a fishnet bodysuit beneath that. Along with this she wore a pair of black boots that stopped just under her knees and a pair of white bracers on each of her forearms bearing the symbol of the Hidden Leaf. Narrowing his eyes at the sight he prepared to speak only for her to speak up as if reading his mind.

"All your questions will be answered in time just let me explain." Said the woman getting a nod from the boy that was enough to put a small smile on her face.

"Alright to start I was born in Uzu no Kuni one hundred years ago. I was born premature though and as a result I nearly died within my first week. In an act to save my life my father pleaded with the God's and in an act of kindness Inari-sama bonded me to a dying fox spirit, my predecessor the former Kyuubi. While he moved on I was given all of the invaluable knowledge that he'd picked up over the time he served under Inari-sama.

I was given one duty as payment for Inari-sama saving my life and that was to be the guardian of a great tree that he would have grown until it was time for my successor to take over. In order to do this I was taken from my parents to be trained, though I was allowed to return quiet often. Where I was trained however time passes by much quicker this allowed me to get in the needed amount of training in the deadline I was given.

Nearly twenty human years after I was born the first shinobi village Konoha was formed. Its leader was a man named Senju Hashirama the leader of the famous Senju clan of the forest. Along with him was the leader of the Uchiha clan and the villages co-founder Uchiha Madara." She paused here for breath before continuing.

"While I watched over the village I had chosen to stay away from it at that time. Instead I spent my time raising my first child, your elder sister Kimiko. About thirty years ago however I had journeyed back to Uzu no Kuni to visit my family along with my parent's graves when it was attacked and destroyed. I had taken on the form of my younger self at the time and to keep what had been done a secret my nephew had me evacuated with the rest of those who couldn't fight. In the aftermath I was moved into Konoha with the rest of the refugees, and was soon entered into the village's shinobi program.

It was during this time that I met a young boy by the name of Minato. Minato was an orphan as his parents had been killed during the war and had been the one to comfort me while I was grieving over the loss of my own family and we eventually became the best of friends. Minato was what they called a genius shinobi and upon our graduation from the academy had been placed on a team lead by the Toad Sannin Jiraiya. I however had been apprenticed under the Slug Sannin Tsunade due to my skill in the medical arts.

When he was thirteen and we had reached chuunin rank I decided it was time I told him the truth about myself. He was shocked but accepted me and didn't see me as the demon that my predecessor had come to be seen as. That day I marked him as my mate and promised him two things. The first was that I'd help him as much as I could on his path as a shinobi and the second was that I would bare him as many children as he wanted. I kept to my word as I helped him become the man known as Konoha's Yondaime Hokage and gave him the son he desired, you." She stopped here seeing his shocked look but continued as soon as he regained his composure.

"After I had gotten pregnant Minato and I secretly got married. A week after you were born I was attacked by a man I thought long dead Uchiha Madara. Unfortunately I had yet to regain my strength from giving birth and as a result fell victim to his damned Mangekyou Sharingan. I was mentally tortured for what seemed like weeks until I finally lost it and reverted into my full demon form.

Your father knew something was wrong the minute he saw me. Though he tried to get me to stop at that point I was no longer in any real control of my actions. In an effort to save you and the village he called upon the Shinigami for help. Instead of the Shinigami devouring our souls however he understood our plight and instead sealed me within you so that I may protect you this way. Minato however was taken from this world though I was promised that once the seal ran its course he would be waiting for me. Since then I have spent my time watching over you. While I couldn't protect you physically I did all I could to keep you both sane and alive." Finished the woman.

For a while Naruto was silent as he absorbed all that he'd been told. As much as he wanted to deny her claims he couldn't find it in himself to do so. Everything she said had made since, even his mothers disappearance. The Sandaime had told him long ago that his mother had been assumed KIA as she was one of the many whose body hadn't been found after the attack all those years ago. Though he had never told him his mother's name.

According to the old man his father had been one of the hero's of the Third Great Shinobi War. That man had also died during the battle that night. Resolving to take it up with the old man he shook off his shock and spoke up.

"So why let me know now and not sooner?" asked the blonde causing the woman to sigh.

"I wanted to contact you sooner but since you had no knowledge of my presence I couldn't. This is your mind kit, nothing can happen here unless you allow it." explained the woman getting a nod from the boy.

"There is one more thing we need to discuss tonight though." Said Kushina catching the attention of the boy.

"I located a seal placed on you that was not a part of what your father placed on you. This seal appears to have sealed away several aspects of your personality. It also suppressed the bulk of your mental functions, which is why you find it hard to remember things. Along with this your chakra and control was suppressed. Since you've been here however I've removed it.

When you were born I also sealed away your demon blood until you could learn to control your power. Because of your fathers seal however my power is being added to your own. At the rate it is going you could destroy yourself and all those around you if you don't learn to control it." explained Kushina causing the boy to pale.

"To stop this I will be awaking your demon blood tomorrow. I'll also be teaching you how to control your abilities. We'll use the two weeks before your team assignments for that. Finally we're getting you some new clothes. Despite what those idiot villagers want you don't need to be a moving target. Now get some sleep you've got a long day ahead of you."

Before Naruto could even speak a word he fell unconscious as a red glow overtook him. Kushina sighed as soon as he did before turning her attention to the cracked walls surrounding her.

The next morning Naruto awoke with a jolt. Sitting up in his bed he3 panted as he ran a hand through his hair. As he did this a chuckle escaped him, as he thought about the dream he had.

'_As if I could really be the son of the Yondaime and the freakin Kyuubi. Impossible_.' Thought the blonde with another chuckle.

'Kit that was not a dream' as the words came to him his chuckle died in his throat.

'Now get moving or I'll shock you again.' Said Kushina causing the boy to sigh.

"Man the bum was right, women are troublesome." Muttered the blonde only for what felt like an electric shock to go through him.

'I HEARD THAT!' exclaimed Kushina causing the boy to groan.

An hour later found the blonde moving through the village at Kushina's direction. She'd apparently woken him early as not only was no one in the streets, but the sun had yet to rise. He moved at a steady jog as she wanted to use this as a warm up exercise. He had already made it through the business section of the village passing the Hokage Tower in the process.

As he passed through the clan homes he had to marvel at just the sheer size of the places, as he never actually came to this part of town. As he left the village proper and entered the forest his speed of travel increased as he leapt into the trees leaping from branch to branch. After nearly ten minutes he found himself touching down by a lake. A large waterfall nearly twenty five meters in height sat before him about twenty feet away. As the water flowed fish could be seen in the clear water as they flowed downstream.

'You need to cross the lake and get past the waterfall.' Said Kushina causing the boy to groan.

Still in order to avoid being shocked again he stripped down to his boxers, jumped in and swam across the lake. As he did Kushina nearly palmed her face seeing she would have to teach him to walk on water, something he should already know how to do. Luckily there were no rocks at this waterfall so he was able to pass through easily.

As he emerged from under the water on the other side the sight that greeted him was enough to make him gasp in surprise. Before him sat a garden so large, with plants and flowers so exotic it would have sent Ino into an orgasm. Despite the fact that he was within a cave it was as bright as it was outside and just as warm. The smell of all the flowers was intoxicating and Naruto quickly found himself relaxing.

His attention however was quickly pulled away from the garden as he set his eyes upon the house he could see in the distance. As he made his way closer to it he found it was built in the traditional Japanese them. It was made nearly entirely of wood and had the classic shogi doors.

'Welcome home my son.'

As Kushina said the words a feeling of warmth engulfed the boy that he'd never felt before. The apartment that the Sandaime had gotten for him had never felt like a home. The place always felt so cold and hollow that it made him feel vulnerable. Yet just being in this place had given him a sense of peace and he suddenly felt safe as if this place was his sanctuary within a world that hated him. A small smile slid across his lips at the thought and while it wasn't as large as his signature grin it was a real smile and that alone spoke volumes. Within the boy Kushina smiled as she allowed her son to have his moment. For once the moment was over the work would begin.


	2. Chapter 2

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 2

AN: Hey folks what it do. i just wanted to take this time to thank everyone who reviewed. Now that I've done that though let's get on with this shall we.

Start Now:

It was a bright day in the Hidden Leaf Village. All around people could be seen going about their business whether they were civilian or shinobi. In the past few weeks a sense of peacefulness had descended upon the village. Though no one would admit it everyone knew this was due to the mysterious absence of the prankster prince, Uzumaki Naruto.

In the last two weeks not a single word had been heard from the legendary prankster nor had anyone seen him. Even the Sandaime Hokage was clueless as to the boys whereabouts as searching with his crystal ball had proved fruitless. Of course if he had known of exactly where the boy had gone he would not have been surprised with his crystal balls uselessness.

At the moment the boy could be found sitting in a meditative pose within the cave that hid away his home. In the two weeks he had been there he had changed greatly, though the most obvious of his changes were of course the physical. He had grown taller and his once short blonde hair had grown and was now a bright red to match his mothers. The grin that had once seemed to be permanently attached to his face was also gone, while the whisker like markings on his face had faded and become nearly invisible. As he opened his eyes it revealed his once deep blue eyes had been replaced golden orbs and if one looked his pupils could be seen slowly shifting from slits to rounded before his eyes returned to the deep blue he stood to his feet and stretched.

The greatest change as far as he was concerned however would be the sense of peacefulness that had overcome him. Suddenly he didn't feel the need to yell and be stupid just to get the attention of people that had hated him since before he could walk. Most importantly he no longer wanted or felt the need to wear the mask he had unknowingly crafted for himself as a chibi. His mask had been his greatest prank and success as no one not even the Hokage had been able to see it. For he had taken the stereotype that people placed on blondes and enhanced it to the maximum if only to keep himself safe. Now however he no longer cared if no one saw him as the oblivious blonde idiot he had portrayed himself to be.

Instead he felt the need to be his true self and now without those seals to hold him back he would be just that. He would no longer be anyone's punching bag, nor would he allow anyone to look down or talk down to him and if they didn't like it…well he had ideas on how to settle that. Smirking at the thought the boy slid a gentle caress down the hilt of the sword he carried at his side. Seeing he had everything settled he launched himself forward and out of the cave. As he passed through the waterfall and emerged on the outside he didn't even slow as he hit the water on the lake. Instead he continued running across the water as if it was the very ground before launching himself into the trees.

* * *

Umino Iruka sighed as he finally got the two banshee's known as Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura to shut up and sit down. As he did he thanked the Kami above that this was the last time he had to deal with the two of them. At the same time he prayed that their jounin sensei's had all the patience of a monk to deal with either of the two rabid fangirls. As he looked around he frowned upon finding his favorite student absent. He had been one of the first to notice the boy's absence from the village when he learned the boy had actually missed a meal at Ichiraku's.

Before he could think more on the matter however the door was opened. Iruka like everyone else turned at the sound and was surprised at the sight that greeted him. In the doorway stood a boy that stood at about five feet in height. He wore a pair of dark white pants along with a long sleeved shirt of the same color and a pair of black flat footed shoes. Over that he wore a green Chinese style over shirt with a golden swirl designed over his heart. A Hidden Leaf hitae-tae could be seen secured around his waist with a dark white cloth. Finally a sheathed sword could be seen secured to the left side of his waist tucked into the cloth of his hitae-tae.

All in all he looked like a younger Yondaime with red hair. In fact it was only upon noticing the thin whisker like markings on his face that he realized who this was.

"Glad you could join us Naruto." Said Iruka with a small smirk.

'_THAT'S NARUTO_.' Thought nearly all of the gathered gennin in shock.

"Sorry I've been busy, but I'll tell you about it later." Stated the red head.

At the sound of his voice several of the females began blushing heavily, several more swooned and one even fainted with a smile. Chuckling at the reaction Iruka merely motioned the boy to take a seat. As soon as the boy sat down, coincidently next to the recovering Hinata, Iruka pulled the attention back to himself by speaking up.

"Congratulations to all of you who have managed to make it this far. However the road ahead of you will only get harder. You are now gennin, the lowest of the low and as such adults. I am proud of you all for making it this far and wish you luck on the journey ahead of you. If you remember nothing else remember this, you now represent our village, the oldest and strongest of all the shinobi villages take pride in that."

As Iruka finished his speech several cheers sounded throughout the room. After they died down however Iruka was quick to speak up once more.

"Now then as tradition goes you have been divided into teams of three along with a jounin instructor. Team 1…"

From here Naruto tuned the man out listening only for the announcement of his own team.

"Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke. Your jounin instructor is Hatake Kakashi."

"I figured as much.' Said Kushina catching her son's attention.

'How so?'

'Team 7 has been Konoha's signature squad since the villages founding. For instance the original team under the Nidaime Hokage consisted of Sarutobi Hizuren, the Sandaime, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu. Sandaime then trained the next team 7 consisting of Senju Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru who later became known as the Sannin.

From there Jiraiya took over and trained your father, Hyuga Hizashi, and Inuzuka Tsume. Then your father took over and trained Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito and Inuzuka Rin.' Explained the sealed woman much to her sons surprised.

"Iruka-sensei I don't get it didn't Naruto fail?" asked Sakura causing the red head to roll his eyes.

"No Sakura, Naruto didn't fail. His failing was staged so that we could catch a traitor. If you must know Naruto actually scored the highest on the graduation exam."

As he said this Iruka smirked at the astonished looks on the students faces. This of course was technically true as the exam had been all practical and they'd just needed to perform the three basic jutsu's. In fact if it wasn't for the Bunshin no jutsu he'd have passed then. However since Naruto managed to learn the jounin level Kage Bunshin he'd given him extra credit. The best part no one could say it wasn't fair as he'd done the same for Shino performing his Muchi Bunshin.

"Team 8: Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. Your jounin instructor is Yuhi Kurenei." Said Iruka breaking Naruto from his thoughts.

'That sucks being teamed with Hinata and Kiba would have been way better than being with the teme and fangirl.' Thought the Naruto with a frown.

"Team 10: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji. Your jounin instructor is Sarutobi Asuma."

'Interesting a reformation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.' Thought Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

In his two week absence his appearance hadn't been the only thing to change as he'd grown just as much mentally. With the usage of the Kage Bunshin no jutsu he'd been able to learn everything that the academy had neglected to teach him over the years. He'd also been educated on the things he hadn't been able to learn due to growing up as an unwanted orphan. Unfortunately this included being given 'the talk' the results of which left him unable to even look at his own mother without blushing. This had proved to be something that gave the woman a serious case of the giggles.

"Now then we will have a one hour recess. After this you will return here as your jounin instructors come pick you up dismissed."

With that there was chaos as the group of pre-teens began chatting excitedly and left the room.

* * *

Four hours later found the members of team seven as the only people within the room. Everyone else had been picked up within the first ten minutes. Sakura had spent the first hour pestering Sasuke while said Uchiha ignored her very existence. Since then it had been quite as the girl had begun glancing between Sasuke and the red head that was Naruto. Sasuke however had spent the entire time brooding and ignoring Sakura's existence while trying to discover how someone much less Naruto could score higher than him on the graduation exam. Naruto however had spent the time going over the things he'd been doing the last two weeks.

_Flashback no Jutsu:_

"_Alright kit it's time to get to work. For starters I need you to make a cut along your arm, don't worry it will heal quickly. Then I'm going to give you some of my chakra and I want you to focus all of it into making these seals." Said Kushina snapping the boy out of his shocked stupor._

_Before he could make a sound the needed seals popped into his head and he quickly found himself following his mother's directions creating a long cut down his forearm. Suddenly a surge of power shot through him and his hands flew threw seals at a rate they had never gone before. Upon completion of the last seal he could only watch in fascination as the blood on his forearm began to pool at his feet before bubbling and after nearly thirty seconds taking on the form of Kushina._

"_You're out!"Exclaimed the blonde in surprise._

"_Not really. This is merely another of the clone jutsu's. This is what I lovingly call a blood clone. It is a combination of both the earth and water clones. You see a body is made up of a combination of elements primarily earth and water. Since blood has water within it I'm able to combine the blood with the earth to create a true clone._

_Now this clone is different from all others in that it is not easily dispelled. In fact the only way to take down a blood clone is to actually land a killing blow otherwise it will just keep coming. Now unlike other clones you can choose how much strong it is by how much chakra you put into it, so it can be anywhere from 10% of your true power and up. On top of this it has its own mind and a true body so anything learned by it both mental and physical transfers back to the user. As such I was able to transfer my consciousness into the clone leaving the part of me sealed within you in a sort of comatose state. " Said Kushina getting causing the boy to go into a state of awe._

"_Now then I'm going to release the seal I placed on you so I want you to sit in a meditative position."_

_Hearing this Naruto slowly sat himself down, still in awe of his mother's jutsu explanation, before folding his legs like he'd seen others do before. Seeing this Kushina began speeding through a long chain of seals and after nearly three minutes finally stopped. As she did her chakra and Naruto's flared before a multitude of seals appeared on the boy's body before fading as cracks began to appear all over the boy even within his eyes and hair._

"_Kai."_

_The sharp command from Kushina had an immediate affect as the cracks began to pulse rapidly as blue and red chakra began to surround the boy. Then with a final pulse and the sound of shattering glass the two chakras combined forming purple chakra and exploding outwards from the boy nearly throwing Kushina back. When the smoke cleared the sight that greeted her was enough to put a fierce blush on the woman's face._

_Flash:_

"_Alright kit I need you to create as many clones as you can"_

_A second later Kushina whistled seeing five hundred Naruto's standing behind the original._

"_Okay here's the deal I want two hundred in the library. One hundred of you will be reading up on everything I have placed on the first table while the second half will read what on the second table. Two hundred of you will be working on chakra control. Seventy-five of you will be working to gain control over your senses. 25 will work on sight, 25 on hearing, and 25 on smelling. The last twenty-five will serve as replacements should any of you dispel you will also create new clones if necessary. Once each of you finishes your assigned task you will dispel yourselves, the only ten at a time at most."_

_With that said the woman created four shadow clones herself surprising her now red headed son when there was no cloud of smoke. With the clones created she sent each of them off to their assigned task. Before her son could say a word however Kushina bit into her thumb causing it to bleed and began running through even more seals before slamming her hands to the ground._

"_Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Totosai" exclaimed the woman before another puff of smoke covered the land. _

_When the smoke cleared however what the boy saw was the last thing he expected. Sitting before them was an old man he was covered in black stripped green robes. His head was nearly bald though what he had left was pulled into a tail on the back of his head leaving his pointed ears to be seen clearly. He had a short beard that reminded the former blonde of the Sandaime and a long mustache as well. Finally he held a mallet with a large handle._

"_Kushina-sama is that you?" questioned the man while rapidly blinking._

"_Yes old friend."_

"_Aren't you a sight for these old eyes." Said the man quickly standing and pulling the woman in for a hug._

"_Naruto this is an old friend of mine Totosai. To-kun I'm sure you remember my son." Said Kushina causing the older man to go wide eyed in surprise._

"_That's Kurama, he's gotten huge!" exclaimed Totosai._

"_Kurama?" questioned the boy turning to his mother._

"_It's your middle name. Your father and I didn't name you. Instead you were named by your godparents. The name Naruto was given to you by your godfather Jiraiya, who you know your father trained under. Kurama was given to you by my best friend and your godmother Yoruichi." Said Kushina getting a nod from the boy._

"_So I take it the time is now." Said Totosai immediately causing Kushina to turn serious eyes on him._

"_Hai."_

"_Kurama come here for a moment." Said the man motioning the boy forward._

_Once the boy came forward the man pulled a scroll from the sleeve of his robe. Biting his thumb he quickly slid the bloodied digit across the parchment causing a small puff of smoke to appear. When it cleared the man held a katana in his hands the sheath pure black and the hilt white._

"_Listen boy for these are the most important words you will ever hear in your life." Said Totosai catching the boy's immediate attention._

"_This sword is one of my greatest works and I put my heart and soul into creating it for you. In fact there are only two other swords that can be mentioned in the same breath as this one and those were the ones that were the precursor for this. One of your mother's fangs from her true form was needed to create this and that's just the beginning. You're a special case and this blade reflects that._

_Unlike any other sword I know of even demonic ones this blade is truly sentient. She is one of a kind as she even has her own spirit." Explained Totosai causing both Kushina and Naruto to gasp in awe._

"_However that is not all. You are a hanyo and your mother a Daiyoukai. This blade is all that is keeping your demonic blood from running rampant and you from killing all those you are meant to protect. Such is the curse of all hanyo's born of Daiyoukai whether they be Kitsune, or Inu or any other race that exist." Said the man sadly._

"_Tell me what is her name?"Asked Naruto as he held the weapon in his hands._

"_That I cannot tell you. You will only hear her name when you are ready. However I do know a few things." Said the man catching both mother and son's attention._

"_She has three forms. The first is the sealed form which you see now. The second is the Shikai or Initial Release. The third is the Bankai or the Final Release, both of which will allow several abilities that I am unfortunately not at liberty to tell you. All I'm allowed to say is this sword was made to match your power. The only thing is she's not quite finished yet." Said Totosai._

_Kushina couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that one. She had commissioned that blade when Naruto was still a new born and it wasn't even finished yet. Seriously the man was the greatest weapon forger alive so how was it he hadn't finished a sword he'd had for twelve years. Totosai upon seeing the look on her face simply removed the blade from its sheath. Upon doing so it revealed that the entire length of the blade was covered in seals._

"_To finish this all you must do is run your blood along both sides of the blade. After that you will just need give it some chakra as well. This will prevent anyone else from using your sword or even touching it unless they have your permission to do so."_

_Taking the blade the former blonde lowered himself into a meditative pose before piercing his thumb on one of his canine and rubbing the blood along both sides of the blade. Almost immediately after he did this his chakra flared as he began focusing it into the blade. As he did both Kushina and Totosai could only gasp as the boy's chakra went from normal blue, to purple, to red and finally black._

_It was the black energy that astounded them though. Both knew that every race had their own chakra color for instance humans had blue, demons had red, and hanyo's had purple. Black however wasn't a color of the chakra spectrum, instead it was a pure spiritual power called reiatsu held only by the Shinigami. Before either could comment on this though the boy slumped into unconsciousness._

_Flash:_

_When he awoke he found himself surprised by what he saw. He was surrounded within a veil of cold darkness yet all around him he could see it shifting becoming something more. Finally after the longest two minutes of his life the shifting finished and he found himself looking upon a breath taking sight. He was within a forest clearing yet the only type of life surrounding him were the many Sakura trees that he could see. _

_Aside from that the sun shone down upon him casting its light and warm rays upon him. In front of him several Sakura blossoms that had been floating began to swirl around each other slowly taking on a humanoid shape. Once they had collected their coloring began to shift to that of a light skin tone until they finished and Naruto found himself looking at yet another breath taking sight._

_Before him stood a beautiful young woman that stood at about 5'5" with long wavy pink hair pulled into a ponytail that stopped at her mid back and green eyes to match his own. Like him she wore a pair of white pants and a long sleeved white shirt along with black flatfooted shoes. Over her shirt she wore a red sleeveless over shirt with a green obi tied around her waist to match the green ribbon tying her hair into its ponytail. (AN: Picture young Genkai from Yu Yu Hakusho.)_

"_Whoa." _

_Naruto hadn't even realized the whispered word had left his lips, yet the light blush upon the woman's angelic face said she did._

"_Thank you, you don't look to bad yourself Naruto-kun." Said the girl her voice light yet holding a tone that made the boy blush._

"_How do you…" started the boy only to be cut off as she disappeared only for her to reappear behind him with her arms wrapped around him and her head resting on his left shoulder._

"_I know everything about you, your hopes, dreams, fears, all of it so it makes sense for me to know your name as well." Said the woman softly._

"_I know you more intimately than you know yourself, for I am a part of you. More specifically a part of your very soul."_

_As the woman said this Naruto was silent both from the words and from the fact that he could feel a certain part of her anatomy pressed against his back. _

"_Mind out of the gutter Naruto-kun, now is not the time for you to indulge in your dirty thoughts." Said the woman causing the boy's eyes to widen before he blushed at being caught._

"_Now as I said I am a part of your soul and have always been, which is where your attraction to a certain pink haired emerald eyed girl comes from." Said the woman immediately grabbing the boy's full attention._

"_Now then I am a gift given to you by Shinigami-sama on the night of his summon by your father. Because he knew the type of life you would have he gifted me to you as your companion, I merely had to wait until you had a proper medium to which I could place myself, in this case that would be your new sword. Even the idea for its making was given to Totosai from Shinigami-sama. All that was needed was for the reiatsu you contained to be placed into the sword and in doing so my spirit." Explained the woman._

"_Reiatsu?" questioned the boy quietly._

"_The energy of the dead. When the Shiki Fuujin was placed on you some of Shinigami-sama's reiatsu was absorbed into you and it changed you. Now that your true self has been released you will notice a difference about the world that you live in. _

_One of these differences is that you will be able to see the spirits of the dead. With that power however comes the ability to allow them to pass on to the next life instead of forcing them to wait for one of the agents to collect their souls. In short you've become like a living Shinigami." Said the woman shocking the boy._

"_I'd love to speak with you more but I merely called you here to inform you of my presence. However know that this place isn't your mindscape even though they resemble each other. This is the soulscape a place where our souls can meet and not just our minds. Though I said I am your companion you are also mine as no one aside from you, not even your mother can get here."_

_As she said this she turned and placed a light kiss to his lips before a blinding light hit him._

_Flash:_

_As he returned to the waking world he was greeted to the forms of his mother and Totosai and after getting his mother to stop fussing over him informed them of what had just happened._

_Flashback no jutsu- Kai:_

He was shaken from his thoughts as he noticed as the sounds of footsteps reached his ears. Sitting up he looked over just in time to see the door slide open. As the door slid open it revealed the form of a man wearing the uniform of a Konoha jounin. Other than that he wore a mask over the lower half of his face and had his hitae-tae slanted to cover one of his eyes. Finally he had silver hair that stuck up at an odd angle.

"My first impression of you guys is…you're boring." Said the man causing the gennin to face plant.

"Anyway meet me on the roof in five minutes." With that said he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Without a word to his teammates Naruto was up and moving out the door with both Sasuke and Sakura moving to catch up. By the time they arrived on the roof Kakashi could be seen leaning on the railing with a small orange book in hand. Motioning for them to sit before him the man snapped the book shut before pocketing it.

"Okay how about introductions. Name's likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, all that good stuff." Said the man lazily.

"Ano can you go first so we know how its done." asked Sakura.

"And she's supposed to be the smart one.' Thought all three males before letting out simultaneous sighs.

"Very well. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have a few likes, the things I dislike…well I have a few hobbies." Finished the man inwardly laughing at the reaction he received from the three.

"Alright your turn pinky." Said the man pointing to Sakura.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like (looks at Sasuke and blushes). My dream for the future (blushes, looks at Sasuke and squeals)."

"Damn fangirl.' thought the males and Kushina with sighs.

"And your dislikes?" Asked Kakashi though he didn't really care.

"INO-PIG!" screamed the girl causing everyone else to wince.

"Your next duck-butt." Said Kakashi upon regaining his hearing and pointing at Sasuke.

"My name is _Uchiha_ Sasuke. I have no likes and many dislikes. I don't have a dream but an ambition which is to revive my clan and to kill a certain man." Said the king of brood.

'Just like I thought an avenger.' Thought Kakashi.

"Alright whiskers you're up.'

"My names Uzumaki Naruto. I have a few likes and a lot of dislikes including the idiot villagers. I only want two things in life the first to make my mother proud. The second to not kill but utterly destroy a certain Uchiha who not only ruined my life but killed my father." Finished the boy making the group go wide eyed before Sasuke turned on him.

"No it's not your brother." Said the red head seeing Sasuke's look.

"Okay." Said Kakashi aiming to put things back on track.

"You guys can meet me tomorrow morning at 0600 at training ground 7 for you gennin exam." said Kakashi only for the three to blink before turning to him.

"Kakashi-sensei we already took the gennin exam." said Sakura.

The reaction to this was Kakashi laughing. Seeing this Sasuke narrowed his eyes while Naruto merely sighed. Finally Kakashi regained enough of himself to speak.

"Sorry to tell you this but that wasn't the real gennin exam. That was merely a test used to separate those with the potential to become a gennin from those who aren't ready. The true exam however is given by the various jounin senseis, and has a 66.6% chance of failure." Explained the man causing Sakura to pale.

"Anyway I'll see you guys tomorrow. Ja ne." said Kakashi before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Seeing the man gone Naruto stood to his feet and left without a word to prepare for the next day. As he did he couldn't help but wonder what it had in store for him.

AN: That's it for this chapter. Originally it was longer but i took some things out for the next chapter and just cut some things out altogether. I don't know when the next chapter will be because i have other fics i need to update but I'll try to have it done in the next few weeks. Anyway thanks for reading, please review, and like always flames aren't welcome but constructive criticsm is fine with me. Till next time LATER.


	3. Chapter 3

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 3

AN: Hello all and Happy New Year. With that out of the way I want to thank everyone who has been kind enough to review. Now I don't know if I've told you guys or not but you should have figured this would turn out a harem judging by my other fics. NO Kushina will not be with Naruto in this fic, she's going back to Minato however she is a main character in the first half of the story and thus her name is in the slot as the secondary character.

Now I don't know about you guys but I'm actually looking forward to the next few chapters in the manga, mostly because I'm dying to see what Naruto can really do during his fight with Pain. Regardless he better get a promotion to jounin after this fight. Anyway enough with my rambling here's the chapter.

Start Now:

Within the office of the Sandaime Hokage several shinobi could be seen standing around the Sandaime's desk. Each of the shinobi were of jounin rank as well while one, Umino Iruka was a mere chuunin. The reason for the gathering of powerful shinobi was to reveal which of them if any had passed their team.

"Now then we will begin this meeting beginning with the jounin for team one.

"Team one fails." Stated one of the jounin with a senbon in his mouth before he steeped back.

"Team two fails." Said another who coughed before stepping back.

"Team three fails."

On and on the jounin stepped back after announcing their teams. Seeing Kakashi was the next one Sarutobi sighed and prepared for the inevitable as he motioned to the man.

"Team seven, passes."

The results from this one brought everything to a halt as all eyes turned to the silver haired jounin in wonder. For the last seven years Kakashi had built a reputation as a hard ass failing every team he got and this time he actually passed one.

"Must have been because of the Uchiha." stated one of the previous jounin.

Sarutobi silenced this man with a glare before motioning to the next person to speak up.

"Team eight passes." Stated Kurenei before stepping back.

"Team ten passes." Stated Asuma finishing things off.

"Now then would you care to explain this rather surprising event Kakashi?" Said Hizuren getting a sigh from the man before he spoke.

Flashback no Jutsu:

_Morning found the members of team seven gathered at their assigned training ground. From his position at the base of a tree Naruto sat in a meditative pose, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. If one were to look they would be surprised at the sight that greeted them. Within the palms of his hand two leafs could be seen hovering and spinning at fast paces. On top of this he had leaves hovering vertically over each of his fingertips each one spinning just as quickly as those hovering over his palms. Suddenly the leaves stopped spinning and quickly shot off and away from him just as Kakashi arrived in a puff of smoke. _

_Looking at his students Kakashi very nearly sweat dropped upon seeing neither Sakura nor Sasuke noticed his presence. Naruto obviously had seeing as he'd been watching the group for the last ten minutes. He had really been watching Naruto as he spun the leaves and he could tell it was a chakra control exercise, one that he'd never heard of. Making a mental note to ask the blood haired boy about it later he moved into the center of them and cleared his throat smirking as the Haruno and Uchiha jumped in shock at his presence. _

"_YOU'RE LATE!" _

_All three males winced at the pink haired girls screech and judging by the barely suppressed killing intent he felt Naruto obviously hadn't liked it._

"_Sorry I had to help a few people subdue a giant hell cat." Said the man with an eye smile._

"_LIAR!" exclaimed Sakura once again causing all the males to wince._

"_Ok here's how the test will go." Said Kakashi catching the attention of the gennin as he pulled out two silver bells._

"_Your objective for you guys to get these bells from me within the next two hours, whoever fails to get one will fail." Said Kakashi causing the gennin to look up at him sharply._

"_However the catch is I only have two bells. This means that no matter what one of you will be heading back to the academy. On top of this that person will be tied to one of those logs while I allow the others to eat these lunches." Said the masked man causing two stomachs to rumble. _

'Wow they actually followed that stupid suggestion_.' Thought Naruto his face not giving the slightest hint at his inner thoughts._

"_Now then you guys are free to use any weapon or jutsu you can in order to get the bells." _

"_Are you sure about that sensei, we could hurt you." Said Sakura causing Naruto to snort._

"_Anyway if any of you are hoping to get the bells from me than come at me with the intent to kill. Ready…Go." _

_Almost as soon as the word was said a cloud of dust was kicked up as the three gennin disappeared. _

'_For fresh graduates they at least know how to hide, just not very well.' Thought Kakashi while pulling out a small orange book._

_He'd already spotted Sakura to his left hidden within some bushes her bright pink hair giving her away easily. Sasuke was hidden deeper within the forest in front of him but he could still since his chakra signature. It was only finely tuned instinct that had him jumping to the side barely dodging the sword that had very nearly ran him through. _

_Moving quickly he was able to tuck his book away and whip out a kunai in time to block the follow up. As the two blades locked Kakashi was surprised with the strength Naruto held behind his attack as even with one hand he was forcing him to use a full quarter of his full strength. Not only that but the kid obviously new the 'Silent Step', a technique only ANBU members and Hunter-nin were taught that allowed them to move without their feet making a sound._

_Kakashi's eye widened as Naruto suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke blinding him for a second. Still his ears easily caught the sound of weapons flying through the air allowing him to avoid it with a quick usage of Kawarimi no jutsu leaving a log to be pierced by the hail of weapons._

'_Sending in a shadow clone to distract my while he made his escape. This kid definitely isn't the dobe his file says he is.' Thought Kakashi before once more pulling out his book._

_From her position nearby Sakura stood shocked at what Naruto had done. Somehow he had learned how to make a solid clone instead of the illusionary clone taught within the academy. Quickly getting over her shock she turned away from the scene and dashed away to do what she always did, try to find Sasuke. Not two minutes later the pink haired girl slid to a halt as she stumbled across Kakashi leaning casually against a tree. For a few moments she just stood there before sigh9ing in relief when he didn't look up from his book and began trying to tip toe away. _

'_Who does she think she is, Bugs Bunny?' wondered the masked jounin idly as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. _

"_Psst Sakura." _

_Turning at the sound of her name she looked over only to see a swirl of leaves. A rustling in the bushes quickly caught her attention though and turning towards it she brightened immensely upon seeing Sasuke emerge from the bushes only to pale upon seeing multiple kunai embedded into his flesh. The sight of this caused her to do the first thing that came to her mind, scream and pass out. _

_Moving away from the unconscious Sakura, Kakashi giggled quietly as he once again leaned up against a tree with his nose buried within his book. It was only because of the presence of his mask that his blush remained hidden as well as the blood trickling from his nose. So engrossed was he in his book that he ignored the whistling sound that usually accompanied flying weapons, at least until they nailed him in the side. _

_From his position Sasuke smirked as his weapons pierced the flesh of the preoccupied jounin. That smirk however quickly died as he saw Kakashi turn into a skewered log. Seeing this he was quick to flee from his spot knowing he'd already given away his position. _

"_Going somewhere?"_

_Sasuke froze hearing the voice but quickly smirked as he turned to face the masked jounin._

"_Hmph I'm different from those two." _

"_Say that after you manage to get a bell." Said Kakashi dismissively._

_Almost immediately after he said this the raven haired youth launched himself forward throwing a punch that the jounin easily knocked aside. Undeterred the Uchiha threw a flurry of punches at the masked jounin only for each of them to be blocked. As his next punch was knocked away the boy swung with the momentum lashing out with a kick that forced the jounin to lean his upper body back to dodge. Seeing this and continuing with the momentum of his spin the Uchiha made a grab for the bells only to have his arm grabbed and be tossed away. Recovering quickly the Uchiha was quick to run through a chain of seals ending with the tiger._

'_A fire jutsu, there's no way a gennin should have the chakra for that.' Thought Kakashi with his single eye going wide. _

'**Katon: Goukakyu no jutsu**_' thought Sasuke his chest swelling before he breathed out a large ball of fire. _

_Panting after the use of his jutsu Sasuke allowed a smirk to cross his face. At such close range he had no doubt that his attack had hit dead on. As the smoke cleared his smirk faded as he found nothing but scorched ground in front of him. Before he could do more than glance around him a pair of hands grasped his ankles and he was pulled into the ground until only his head remained visible and Kakashi appeared in front of him._

"_It seems you are different than the others. However being different doesn't mean your better." _

_Sasuke simply smirked before he disappeared in a puff of smoke causing Kakashi's eye to widen. As this happened a spike of chakra had him turning only to see a single shuriken multiply into fifty just before they came down on him. From his position Naruto cursed, his newly enhanced eyes easily catching Kakashi as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. In less than a second he turned and drew his sword only to have his face caved in by Kakashi's fist. As he hit the ground Kakashi's eye widened as the boy turned into a pile of wood._

'_That was…' _

"_**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu**__."_

_Broken up from his thoughts Kakashi found himself surprised once more as he found himself surrounded on all sides by Naruto clones. Everywhere he looked a Naruto was standing whether on the ground in the trees and even on the trees. Suddenly Kakashi found himself thrown forward hard enough to see stars as he was shoulder tackled from behind and as if that was some signal the rest of the clones surged forward. Three more Naruto's quickly raced forward each sliding under him before giving him a rising kicks the combined might launching him into the air. _

_In the trees Sakura and Sasuke could only watch on in shock as Kakashi was knocked around like a pinball before he was sent slamming into the ground with enough force to make a crater five feet deep. Naruto smirked at his handy work only for it to die as Kakashi fell into a pile of mud. Before he could even begin to look for the one eyed jounin the sound of the alarm ringing caught his attention just before Kakashi landed in front of him panting heavily._

* * *

_Five minutes later found Kakashi eyeing the three would be gennin as they leaned against the training logs in the center of the training ground. In the center Sakura sat glaring at the silver haired man who'd tied her to the training post. _

"_It seems Naruto will be the only one to return to the academy…" Started Kakashi causing the former blonde to narrow his eyes at the man._

"_Sasuke and Sakura you two…should quit altogether." Finished the man._

"_WHAT WHY SHOULD WE QUIT." Exclaimed Sakura only the ropes tying her down keeping her from jumping the silver haired jounin._

"_Because you two are just punks that don't deserve to be ninja's."_

_Before he could say another word Sasuke had charged towards him only to be swiftly pinned to the ground with Kakashi sitting on him while steeping on his head and holding his left arm behind his back._

"_That's why you're a punk." _

"_HEY YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO SASUKE-KUN!"_

"_Shut up." Snarled the jounin his single eye glaring at the girl icily. _

"_You two are underestimating what it means to be a ninja. Tell me why do you think you were divided into teams and are doing this training. Have you even grasped the answer to this test?"_

"_Teamwork." Said Naruto as he leaned against his training post bringing all attention to himself. _

"_The purpose of this test was to see if we could exhibit the teamwork necessary to become gennin." Sakura scoffed at the words only for her eyes to widen at Kakashi's answer._

"_Correct. How did you figure it out?" said Kakashi as he released Sasuke who moved back to his post to brood._

"_There were a few points in your briefing that made no since. The first was your suggestion of not eating breakfast under the guise of loosing it. However yesterday you arrived three hours late and if your reputation is anything to go by you are always at least three hours late for anything unless it is a meeting with the Hokage. This means that you told us that with the intention of weakening us to the point that we allowed our hunger to affect our thinking." Stated the red head causing the eyes of his fellow students to widen while Kakashi's narrowed._

"_Secondly was your statement that regardless one person would fail this test. This contradicts everything we've already been taught in the academy however as since the founding of this village no gennin squad has had less than four members, the gennin and their jounin instructor. Once again this was done purposely most likely so that you could see if we had what it took to complete the mission regardless of the circumstances. In this case that would mean one of us returning to the academy." Finished the boy with a sigh._

"_Are you sure you are Uzumaki Naruto, according to the file I have Uzumaki Naruto would have never thought this out so thoroughly." Stated Kakashi with narrowed eyes._

"_Of course it says that. After all I'm the kid everybody loves to hate. Aside from that I've had two weeks to fix the problems caused by the teachers at the academy a chakra reserve to put most jounin to shame and a kinjutsu to make great use of it. All I had to do was lock myself in the library for two weeks." Finished the boy with a smirk. _

"_Back to the subject at hand Naruto is the only one who exhibited any kind of teamwork. By this I mean breaking the genjutsu I placed on Sakura and saving Sasuke from the head hunter jutsu. Using a combination of henge and Kage Bunshin like that was impressive." Stated the scarecrow causing Sakura's eyes to widen while Sasuke's narrowed._

"_Still because you failed to get the bells and only Naruto exhibited the teamwork needed you guys fail." Stated Kakashi only for Naruto to chuckle._

"_I don't think so." Said the red head holding up a pair of bells much to Kakashi's surprise. As he looked down his eyes widened finding the bells on his hips turn into acorns. _

"_I snagged these at the end when I bombarded you with the clones. If you remember three Naruto's slid under you but only two feet hit you. I had used that moment to swap the bells while you were distracted." Finished Naruto as he tossed one to Sasuke and the other onto Sakura's head._

"_Of course I also took into account my own situation and decided to get a little extra insurance." _

_As he said this the boy pulled an orange book from his pouch. Quickly digging into his own pouch Kakashi's eye widened in horror upon finding his book missing. _

"_I figured I could convince you to let us all pass." Said the boy._

"_That's cheating." Said Kakashi._

"_I'm a shinobi." Kakashi sighed hearing this, he had to admit the boy got him on this one, that book was brand new and a limited edition._

"_Very well Team seven passes. However Sasuke, Sakura you two should know it is only because of Naruto that you pass." With that said Naruto tossed the man his book causing him to sigh in relief. _

'That boy's as devious as his mother._' Thought Kakashi._

Flashback no jutsu: Kai.

The room was silent as the gathered shinobi tried to absorb what they had just been told. As jounin each of them was aware of exactly how it was Naruto had earned his hitae-tae. As such they each knew the boy's rightful place was as the dead last of his class. Yet hearing this had each of them questioning that and if what they heard was true then several members of the academy's staff was to blame. After a few more minutes of silence the Sandaime spoke causing all eyes to turn onto him.

"Kakashi I want you to have Naruto report to me immediately after you leave here." Started the old Kage his tone having no room for any nonsense.

"As for the rest of you what you just heard will be classified as a double S class secret. Iruka I want you to investigate the matter concerning Naruto's time during the academy. I want to know who has played a part in sabotaging the boy's education and I want to know yesterday. With the exception of Kakashi any of you are free to help Iruka with his assignment.

Those of you who have not passed a team will have the rest of the week off. Following this however you will be allowed to return to your previous duties. Dismissed."

* * *

Ten minutes later found Kakashi and Asuma closing in on a small stand by the name of 'Ichiraku's Ramen.' Apparently Asuma's gennin team had gone there after their test, as had Naruto who Kakashi had sent a Kage Bunshin to follow. It was only as they closed in on the shop that the two could hear the sounds of an argument taking place.

"Stop lying baka there's no way that you're the reason your team passed if anything you guys passed because of Sasuke-kun."

Naruto sighed at hearing Ino's words. She had started up almost as soon as Naruto had finished telling her team how his exam went. Shikamaru and Choji had wisely paid their bills and backed out of the restaurant. Naruto would have followed suit if he didn't have more ramen coming. Since her awakening Kushina was not allowing him to gorge as he used to so he was taking the opportunity as she was allowing him to do so due to passing his exam.

Still the boy said nothing to the girl who had been ranting for the last ten minutes. Instead he silently motioned his adopted sister Ayame to bring him another bowl. Due to the scent of the noodles that had supported him all his life clouding his sense's he was also unaware of the arrival of Kakashi and Asuma. Sitting down his empty bowl he turned to the girl his words halting her ranting.

"Ino what do I have to do to get you to stop?" Asked the exasperated boy.

"Just admit you lied and that Sasuke-kun really did all the work." Said Ino causing the boy to sigh.

"That right there would be a lie though. How about you just ask my sensei when you see him." Said the boy.

Ino paused at that and thought about it before grinning. After all Naruto couldn't have done it so was a pretty sure bet that his sensei would admit that the boy only passed due to Sasuke.

"Fine I'll ask him even though I already know what he'll say. In fact I'm so sure of it I'll be your slave for the rest of my life if, on the very unlikely chance he says otherwise. However when I'm proven right you'll have to be mine." Finished the blonde with a devious glint in her eye.

'With this I'll be sure to win Sasuke-kun, as I can use the baka to keep Sakura away.' Thought the blonde.

"Don't say things like that Ino, especially when you know that you have no plans on following what you say."

"Your just saying that because you'll know you'll lose baka. I on the other hand swear on my hitae-tae that I'll do as I said if I'm wrong."

"You do realize swearing on your hitae-tae is like swearing on your life to the Daimyou. Doing so and not following your word is considered treason, the consequences of which will result in either execution or time in prison." Said Naruto as he eyed the blonde out of the corner of his eye.

"Of course I know that baka unlike some people I actually did my work at the academy! Of course you would be held to the same terms."stated the blonde.

Truthfully though she hadn't known that little tidbit of information but she wouldn't let it sway her. After all she was guaranteed to be right about this.

"**Stop trying to persuade her, if she wants to make an ass out of herself let her. besides this way I'm guaranteed grandchildren in the future**." Said Kushina causing Naruto's eyes to widen.

'_I honestly thought you would be against the idea._' Returned the boy.

"**There is much I haven't told you about my son. For one I have had several slaves myself during my lifetime both human and demon alike. This includes pleasure slaves both male and female**."

'_That was too much information kaa-san, I'm trying to eat.'_ Returned the boy causing the vixen to laugh.

"**I still have much to teach you it seems. That however is a conversation for another time for now accept her terms.**"

"Fine." Was the red head answer to both women just as Kakashi and Asuma entered the stand, the former giggling while the latter had a scowl on his face.

"Hello Kakashi-sensei." Said the boy his senses returning to him due to the absence of food.

"Hokage-sama wishes to see you immediately." Said Kakashi before bursting out into giggles again.

"Ino you and I are going to go and speak to your parents." Said Asuma catching the girls attention.

"After which your new _master_ will be joining us." Finished Asuma causing the girl to pale.

"Y-you mean…" started the girl stuttering for the first time since Naruto had known her.

"Hai it was Naruto, not Sasuke that was the reason team seven passed." Stated Kakashi.

He didn't even have his book out but this was just too good to ignore. He couldn't help but giggle as Ino paled drastically before turning to glare at Naruto.

"None of that Ino, Naruto tried to convince you otherwise. It's not his fault if you don't know how to listen when people give you advice meant for your best interest." Said Asuma.

"Kakashi can you escort Naruto to Inoichi's when he finishes his meeting with the old man?" asked Asuma getting a nod from Kakashi before he left the stand with Ino dragging behind him.

Naruto meanwhile had finished his last bowl and stood handing Ayame her pay and a rather generous tip. Once he did he and Kakashi left the stand for the Hokage's office.

* * *

As always Naruto entered the Hokage's office uninterrupted. While it was true the villagers didn't really like him, he'd always had the support of the majority of the shinobi. While they didn't go out of their way to treat him like a hero they treated him like he was one of them, something he'd always been grateful for. Those who worked in the Hokage's office were especially friendly with him as he was a regular face he had even helped a few of them out with a few task in the past. It was a secret among them that Sarutobi had been teaching the boy the administrative duties of the Hokage for years so that he'd already be prepared the day that he took over as Hokage.

as he entered the office he was surprised to see a member of the ANBU standing inside. This was because the only time he was ever barred entry was when there was a briefing or debriefing going on. He'd even been inside when the man met with the Daimyou several times.

"Ah Naruto-kun I'm happy to see you put your lunch on hold to meet with me." Said Sarutobi though he was still not used to seeing the boy with red hair.

"Of course I came the only time you call for me when I'm eating is when its something important. I'm hoping this isn't about the closet pervert trying to hamper Ko-kun again." Said the red head.

Sarutobi smiled at the boys words. It had only been three days ago that Naruto had meet his grandson Konohamaru who he had quickly nicknamed Ko. There meeting had definitely been one to remember but that was a story for another time.

"No this is actually about what happened during your gennin exam. According to Kakashi you were able to create a type of clone that should have been impossible for you to create." Stated Sarutobi causing the boy to raise an eyebrow.

"Jiji you already knew about me being able to use Kage Bunshin." Stated the boy dryly causing the old man to sweatdrop seeing as Naruto still had his moments.

"I'm talking about a different kind of clone Naruto-kun." Said the Sandaime getting a thoughtful look from the blonde.

"Different clone. I don't remember using any Mizu or Tsuchi Bunshins. Mom won't let me use any Chi Bunshins so it has to be the Moku Bunshin." Mumbled the boy surprising all three shinobi in the room.

"Naruto." Called the Sandaime catching the boys attention only for the boy's eyes to widen as he saw the surprised look gracing his grandfathers face.

"I thought out loud didn't I." thought the boy scratching the back of his head with a sheepish expression.

From her place within her son Kushina was doing the same seeing her son had inherited one of her bad habits. As such both mother and son had the same thought at that time.

'_Damn this is gonna take a while_.'

AN: That's it for this chapter. Thanks for reading and please review. Until next time LATER.


	4. Chapter 4

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 4

Previously:

"_I thought out loud didn't I_." thought the boy scratching the back of his head with a sheepish expression.

From her place within her son Kushina was doing the same seeing her son had inherited one of her bad habits. As such both mother and son had the same thought at that time.

'_Damn this is gonna take a while_.'

Start Now:

For a while the room was silent as the Sandaime and two jounin tried to digest the words they'd just heard muttered from the rookie gennin. Sure Kakashi had suspected it, but none of them had been ready to learn that the boy really could use the Mokuton element. If that wasn't enough than the knowledge that the boy knew three other clone variations was shocking especially even the Sandaime had never heard of one of them.

However it wasn't his knowledge of techniques that got the Sandaime's attention. No, it was something that both jounin had overlooked due to the boys mention of techniques.

"Naruto."

By just speaking the boys name the Sandaime brought everyone's attention to him. Seeing the seriousness within the old man's eyes the red headed youth had to consciously restrain himself from wincing.

"Who is this mother you spoke of?"

The question had both jounin wide eyed as they realized they had missed that detail. For any other child missing that could be explained, but Naruto being an orphan and ward of state since birth had no parents. Of course no one aside from the Sandaime and his two students knew exactly why the Sandaime had done this.

Naruto however nearly sighed in relief upon hearing this question. The Sandaime was the one person within the village to hold his full trust and as such he had already decided to inform him of all that he had learned recently.

"Are you sure you want to know jiji?" questioned the boy glancing over at both Kakashi and the masked ANBU member

Sarutobi's eyebrows rose upon hearing that question, but for knowledge's sake had both Kakashi and the ANBU wait outside the room. Almost as soon as the door closed the old man channeled a bit of chakra into a hidden seal on his desk before the walls glowed a deep blue for a second before the glow faded. Suddenly a kunai was in the boy's hand and faster than Sarutobi could react the boy had acted cutting a large gash into his right forearm. Before he could speak the boy's hands began flying through seals at a rate that no gennin should be able to make before ending on a dragon seal. The old man could only watch as the boys blood reacted to the seal sequence and began to bubble before growing and taking shape.

"K-KUSHINA!"

In his shock at the woman's appearance Sarutobi had nearly fallen back over his seat, his eyes wide and jaw dropped. Of course the Sandaime had a right to be surprised as he had suspected the woman to have died all those years ago. Naruto simply shook his heat at seeing the smirk on his mothers face despite the fact she'd come very close to giving the old man a heart attack.

"Kushina, how?" asked the old man as best he could in his shocked state.

"I'm not really here old man, this is just a clone. A very advanced clone but still a clone." Said the woman calmly.

"That I understand. What I can't figure out is how Naruto can make a clone of someone I'm sure he's never met." Explained the Sandaime.

"To make things simple, he can make clones of me because I'm sealed inside of him."

As she said this all three men were barely able to contain their shock, at least until Sarutobi paled.

"Does that mean you…"

"Oh I know everything those ignorant fools have put my son through, especially the fools on that piece of shit council." Stated the woman anger and contempt dripping from her in waves.

Hizuren winced at that as he knew exactly who she was speaking about. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that all of Naruto's problems had stemmed from the civilian council. Despite him marking it as an S-class secret they had deliberately leaked the news of Naruto containing the Kyuubi leading to the mess that was Naruto's life. The shinobi council however had at least given the blonde a chance, even allowing him to enter into the academy without being forced to pay the tuition everyone else had to pay.

Shaking himself from his thoughts the Professor decided to get things back on track before his paperwork found a way to double like it usually did. Before he did however he made a mental note to speak to both Naruto and Kushina at a later date, preferably when he had beaten back the paperwork enough to get it to hold off for a while. After all despite everything he needed to find out why Kushina had been sealed within the boy. Clearing his throat the old man successfully stopped the red haired mother in mid rant and brought all attention to himself.

"While I would love to speak with you more on this subject I have much to do this day Kushina." Said the old man before glaring at his stack of papers causing Kushina to smirk.

"Now Naruto-kun I initially called you here for a reason but before that I need you to do something for me." As he said this he removed a small slip of paper from his desk and handed it to the boy.

"Now then Naruto-kun I need you to channel a small amount of chakra into that paper. That paper is made from special trees within the village that were grown by feeding on peoples chakra and as such they can allow for us to discover which of the five elements you are aligned to. If fire it will burn, wind it will split in half, water will make it soggy, lightning will make it crumble and earth will make it turn to dust." Explained Sarutobi getting a nod from the boy.

Taking a breath the red head gennin channeled a small amount of chakra into the paper and the results were both instant and surprising. For almost immediately the paper was split horizontally before one half turned to dust and the other became soggy. Sarutobi Hizuren could only blink in shock at the sight as he'd never thought he'd come across a gennin with three elemental affinities much less one who had just graduated from the academy.

"Once again however it seems you've managed to surprise me Naruto-kun." Stated Sarutobi with a chuckle.

"Now then as you can guess the purpose of this was to discover if you truly could use the Mokuton jutsu. I had honestly believed that much like the rest of those who came before you, you would be unable to utilize the Mokuton abilities of the Shodai Hokage. Since you have apparently inherited this ability I will have Tora instruct you as he is the only person in the village who can teach you those arts. There is however one thing you should know." Stated the Sandaime pausing here and leveling a serious glare onto his surrogate grandson.

"Your heritage is the most closely guarded secret of this country, the full extent of which is known only to myself and the Daimyo. Not even your own grandparents know of your relationship. Aside from that only two people aside from myself and the Daimyo know of your parentage. Because of this I will have to ask you to keep this knowledge to yourself for the time being. Furthermore I'm going to have to ask you not to reveal your ability to use the Mokuton for the time being. Know that this is not a permanent thing but only until I get set things up so that you will be protected from the sharks on the council." Finished the old man.

Naruto upon hearing this merely nodded in understanding of the Sandaime's position. The old man had always been his sole pillar of support and if he said this was necessary then he wouldn't question it. Of course it also helped that he and Kushina had already had this discussion so he already knew what the man would say. In response to this Hizuren could only smile at the maturity shown by the boy. Of course he knew as the Hokage he could have just ordered the boy but Naruto had never refused anything he'd ever asked of him and he knew this would be no different as long as he had explained his reasoning.

"Wait a minute I was told Minato's parents were killed while he was young." Stated Kushina causing Sarutobi to frown once more.

"Like Naruto measures were taken to protect him. Seeing as we were in a constant state of war at the time and his parents had made more enemies than allies, that is what he was told. In truth his mother still lives, unfortunately I have no clue who Minato's father is. However I have spent the last twelve years trying to track her so that she could raise Naruto herself seeing as the right to raise her son was snatched from her during the war." explained Hizuren getting both mother and son to nod.

"Now then I will set things up and you can meet Tora tomorrow at training ground 69 at 0600 for training." Finished Sarutobi before dismissing the boy.

* * *

Upon leaving the Tower Naruto found himself being led around the shopping district by a perversely giggling Kakashi. Under normal circumstances he'd have already made a play to swipe the open perverts book, luckily for Kakashi Naruto was too busy speaking with his mother to do anything at the moment.

'Ne kaa-san why don't we tell jiji the whole truth?' asked the boy his confusion only viewable to his mother.

For a few moments Kushina was silent as she thought of a way to explain things. For while her son was no longer the mental equivalent of a five year old he was still a child and had absolutely no grasp of politics. She had discovered some time ago that human politics was a dirty world full of traps and hidden agenda's. It was actually one of the key reasons she was happy living the simpler life of a demon. Finally after a few moments more of silence the woman spoke up.

"While I can understand your desire to tell him everything now, doing so is not the wise thing to do at the moment. If you told him everything now he would then have to tell the council. These are the same people who leaked the news of the sealing and effectively made your life a living hell.

What you need are allies on the council seeing as to how Sarutobi is not officially a part of it as he is the Hokage. This son is where Ino comes in…"

As Kushina proceeded to outline her plan Naruto couldn't help but smile. His smile however was so mischievous that everyone who saw him gave him a wide birth and shuddered hoping it wasn't them on the legendary prankster's hit list. The two were broken from their conversation as Naruto found a hand placed on his shoulder. Glancing around he found he was in front of a flower shop in the center of the shopping district.

* * *

Yamanaka Inoichi was a man who had experienced much in his thirty plus years of life. He had fought, bled, and nearly died more times than he cared to remember during the Third Great Shinobi War. If that wasn't enough he had even witnessed the power and fury possessed by the legendary Kyuubi no Kitsune. Yet despite all that he had experienced in his life as a shinobi nothing had prepared him for the news that his daughter, his only child had effectively sold herself into slavery to the very boy the Kyuubi had been sealed into.

Unlike many that had been around at the time he was someone who did not blame the boy for all that had happened on that horrible night twelve years ago. He also couldn't blame the boy for this current situation as Asuma had thoroughly explained what had happened at the time. However Inoichi was still human and as such he had to place the blame on someone and at the moment he was blaming the civilian council and a certain Uchiha brat.

After all it had been the civilian council that had praised the boy for surviving the Uchiha massacre despite the fact that the boy had simply been allowed to live by the now legendary clan slayer. It was also them he realized that had encouraged everyone into thinking the brat was worth more than he actually was. Everything they did however the Uchiha brat ate up reveling in the undeserved praise and admiration, flaunting himself off to the point where others began to think he was special, thus causing his daughter to turn into someone whose brain turned to mush the minute something involving him came up.

Such thoughts however were broken as the man noticed Asuma return with someone else in tow. The figure however wasn't recognizable at first glance. This figure was a boy that stood at about 5 feet with long spiky red hair that disappeared behind his shoulders and deep blue eyes. He stood clad in a pair of dark white pants and a long sleeved shirt of the same color.

Over this he wore a sleeveless dark green Chinese styled over shirt with a golden swirl designed over his heart. A leaf hitae-tae acted as a sash around his waist the standard blue cloth replaced by a longer black one which was currently holding a sheathed katana. To finish off the outfit he wore a pair of flatfooted black shoes. All in all it was only the barely there whisker-like markings along his cheeks that allowed Inoichi to indentify him as Uzumaki Naruto.

As he looked him over the Yamanaka head had to admit the boy looked much better without the hideous orange jumpsuit. Of course Ino had said the boy had changed but his appearance was only part of it. The boy now held himself with an air of calm and confidence that had been missing the last time he'd seen the boy. Shaking himself from his thoughts the Yamanaka head motioned for the boy to take a seat whilst simultaneously shooting Asuma a look telling him to leave.

"Before anything else is said I'd like for you to know I don't hold you responsible for what happened this afternoon. However Ino is still my daughter and you should know that if anything should happen to her while she is in your…service I will hold you responsible." Said Inoichi.

"That may not be necessary." Stated Naruto quietly catching the man's attention.

"To be truthful I don't want this. However at the moment there is nothing either of us can do about this as Ino swore it on her hitae-tae. However what I can do is allow Ino to continue living here. Also according to Fire Countries law concerning slavery since Ino was a kunoichi of Konoha she can continue her career as a kunoichi rather than being forced to quit. She will still have her duties but she will have a certain amount of freedom, she won't even be marked as a slave, in fact aside from you, her sensei, Ino and I no one has to know.

If this is the route we choose however I would request your support when matters concerning me are brought before the council. I will also need you to ensure that all of her fangirl tendencies disappear. She will also have to take her training seriously from this point onwards."

As the boy finished Inoichi could barely hold back the sigh of relief. Not only would he be allowed to keep his daughter, she will be allowed to continue her training as a kunoichi. With this deal he'd be getting more than he thought and all he had to do was continue to give the boy his support when he was mentioned. Of course he realized with his support the boy would get the support of both the Nara and Akimichi clans as well.

He also had to make sure his daughter took this chance seriously. As one of the heads of the Interrogation department he knew the laws of his village and country intimately. As such he knew with Ino's new position Naruto didn't need to make deals or allow her to stay with him. He could have simply taken and placed her in his home and used her as a pleasure slave for the rest of her life.

"Very well I can agree to these terms." Said Inoichi after breaking himself from his thoughts.

"Very well I will come for her in two weeks. In that time she will need to learn both tree and water walking as she wont be able to enter my home without that knowledge." Replied the red headed youth as he stood to his feet.

"Before you leave I'd like to know what happened to change your appearance so drastically. I'd also like to know why you asked for so little when you could've easily asked for more." Said Inoichi also standing.

For a few moments Naruto stood silently debating whether or not he should answer the man's questions. After a quick check with his mother however he had his answer and spoke.

"My appearance is the result of a Kekkai Genkai activating. As for why I didn't ask for more it is mostly because had things ended differently that night I'd have probably been as close to Ino as Shikamaru and Choji are. After all your wife was my mother's maid of honor." Finished the boy with a smirk before walking out the door.

For a few minutes Inoichi was silent as he digested the boy's words. Then the man's eyes widened remembering the one wedding within which his wife had been made the maid of honor.

'_I should've seen this coming, after all the boys name is Uzumaki. It seems Sarutobi-sama was able to pull a fast one on us. Honestly Minato wasn't the type of person to use anyone else's child when he had his own. I wonder if any of the others have figured this out._'

Shaking his head from his thoughts the Yamanaka clan head closed the shop for the day before leaving to speak with his daughter the smile never leaving his face.

* * *

'Are you sure that was wise kaa-san?' questioned Naruto mentally as he leapt through the trees on his way home.

'Hai. Now that he knows who you are he will be sure to convince Chouza and Shikaku to get behind you as well. Tomorrow you will have to meet with Hizashi and Tsume. Even though Hizashi is a branch house Hyuga, his brother is the clan head and as close as they were to your father they will support you as well.

Not only would you have their votes in your favor but their clans will back you as well and the shinobi of the village will soon after, as having the top five of the villages most prestigious clans backing you will speak of your character. Just be careful as all eyes will be watching your moves from this point on. Some of those watching will merely be waiting for you to slip up before they put a kunai in your back. Now hurry home I want to meet this sword spirit you were telling me of." Finished Kushina getting a nod from the boy who sped off.

AN: That's it for this chapter. The next release will have a small time skip so I can get moving further into the story. Anyways thanks for reading and leave a review. Till next time LATER.


	5. Chapter 5

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 5

AN: Hello all it's been a while. Firstly I want to thank everyone who reviewed and support this story. Secondly I just want to say that the last manga chapter was complete and utter BULLSH!T, if you read the manga chapter you'll understand why I think so.

Now its come to my attention that some people think I've changed Naruto too much too soon. Rest assured Naruto is still Naruto he's just smarter and has a serious side he lets show more in this story also I haven't really shown him really interacting with other people but that will come soon enough. With that said here's the chapter.

"normal human speaking"

'_human thought'_

"**Demonic/Summon speaking**"

'**Demonic/Summon thought**'

{Mental Speaking}

Start Now:

It was a beautiful, sunny day for the residents of Konohagakure no Sato. Within the walls of the village the citizen's civilian and shinobi alike could be seen going about their business. A single figure however could be seen standing solitary in front of the memorial stone that was placed within training ground seven. As he stood over the stone Kakashi's single exposed eye stared intently upon the name of his departed sensei and brother figure Namikaze Minato.

As he stared at the name on the stone he couldn't help but wonder how his sensei had made teaching look so easy. It had only been a month since his team was formed yet the man was already wishing he had failed them. Individually the three held a lot of promise, first was Sasuke who as an Uchiha would eventually possess the Sharingan eye that had made his clan so feared. Then there was Sakura who despite her civilian background could be an excellent medic nin or genjutsu specialist due to her near perfect chakra control and intelligence. Finally there was Naruto whose chakra reserve was rumored to be on par with the Sandaime's and had the potential and drive to become a great shinobi.

When he had first gotten this team assigned to him he had thought things would be fine as the three reminded him of his own gennin team under the Yondaime. He saw a lot of himself in Sasuke who like himself was already focused intently upon his goal. However whereas he had been aiming to bring honor back to his family name the young Uchiha was focused on killing his brother to the point that he deemed anything that didn't grant him more power as unimportant.

In Sakura he saw his old team mate Rin, Kami rest her sole. However unlike Rin who had already been a chuunin at this age and an up and coming medic nin Haruno Sakura was nothing more than a fangirl. The girl was obsessed with the Uchiha to the point that she deemed everything else unimportant. She had no desire to train at all believing that the Uchiha would save her if she were ever in trouble. If that wasn't enough than the fact that she did nothing but degrade her other teammate to impress the Uchiha sickened him, how she ever graduated from the academy was a mystery to the masked man.

Finally there was Naruto. Originally the boy had been the one saving grace for the team. Kakashi had seen a lot of his other teammate Obito in the boy who ironically enough had been an Uchiha. It had been his hope that with his sunny outlook and personality Naruto would be the one to pull the three of them together, those hopes had been dashed quickly. Like he had the day of their gennin exam Naruto had proven to Kakashi he was not the person that his file said he was. No this Naruto was more restrained than what he believed the boy was capable of being.

Despite this he could tell Naruto held a strong dislike for his teammates. While he remained silent during Sakura's loud rants the calm, calculative look he sent her way spoke volumes to the jounin and did wonders to shut the girl up. In fact he'd only known two other people to send looks of that nature and power at people, his sensei Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Itachi, the man who had become legendary for single handedly massacring the entire Uchiha clan save his little brother Sasuke.

Said Uchiha had also been under the receiving end of that look, yet unlike with Sakura Naruto actually followed through on the threat hidden within that gaze. At first he had disregarded it but after Naruto had started aiming for vital points and using crippling moves during spars the man had saw the situation for what it was. Naruto had had enough of the two and would not hesitate to remove one of them if pushed far enough; it was because of this he could no longer allow the two of them to spar. As far as Kakashi was concerned the three of them were just not ready for him to begin instructing them.

'_And now I have to take them on a C-rank mission_.' Thought the scarecrow. With a sigh of exasperation Kakashi couldn't help but wonder what he'd done to deserve this group of misfits.

Elsewhere Yamanaka Ino could be seen panting heavily as she glared at the log within training ground ten. Beside her Sarutobi Asuma couldn't help but be impressed with the girls drive. In the past month the girl had been pushing herself to the brink. She'd mastered both tree and water walking in a week though Asuma still had her practicing the exercises so that her chakra reserves would increase. Due to her antics during the academy the girls chakra reserves were beneath the level of even a rookie gennin and as such he could not teach her any techniques.

Because of this he was focusing on her taijutsu which had also been subpar. In the past four weeks however she had improved drastically, though he still didn't believe she deserved the number one kunoichi title she gained in the academy. In fact he was willing to bet the Hyuga girl would wipe the floor with the blonde should she get over her shyness and reign in her gentle nature. Regardless the girl was making a steady improvement which is more than he could say about Shikamaru and Choji as the two had absolutely no drive to work preferring instead to eat, sleep or cloud watch.

Most important of all however was that the girl didn't complain. It didn't matter what task she was given the girl didn't complain she simply set out to accomplish said task. If that wasn't surprising the fact that she was actually focused on her career and not on a boy would be considered a miracle to someone who didn't know her situation. Shaking himself from his thoughts the man called an end to the break before motioning to the girl to get back to work.

Ino groaned but other than that made no complaints as she moved to go back to punching the log. Before she could make it however both jounin and gennin were interrupted as the red haired gennin that was Naruto came onto the scene.

Elsewhere the real Naruto smirked as his clone dispersed alerting him that it had given Ino his message. He was currently standing within training ground fifteen, one of the grounds reserved for usage by ANBU members. Across from him stood the man that the Sandaime had said would help him with his Mokuton techniques, Tenzou. Tenzou was a man that stood at the height of 5'8" and had short brown hair with deep black eyes. He was garbed in the standard uniform of a jounin of Konoha, the only difference being his hitae-tae which was shaped like the Nidaime's had been instead of the standard issue one assigned.

Over the last month Naruto had come far with his training. Due to Kakashi's chronic lateness his team hardly ever really got to train, and when they did it was merely teamwork drills. Because of this Tenzou had taken it upon himself to train Naruto in more than just ninjutsu. They had started with taijutsu which Naruto had been abysmal at. Seeing this Tenzou had taught him how to fight in a way that utilized his strengths when it came to taijutsu. His taijutsu was now defensively oriented utilizing his natural speed, cunning, stamina and strength. His 'style' of taijutsu now resolved around blocking and dodging attacks before countering with quick powerful blows.

Unlike most practical taijutsu trainers Tenzou didn't have him learn katas or anything of the sort. Instead he fought him forcing the boy to develop hand to hand skills in a combat situation. Ninjutsu however is where the boy truly shined. Before Tenzou could teach him anything about Mokuton he had to first teach the boy about elemental chakra, something usually reserved for those striving to reach jounin rank. Regardless of this the boy had done in one month what would take many years of training to do, learn to use his elemental chakra.

This was a feat he accomplished thanks majorly due to his mastery of Kage Bunshin, and his high chakra reserves. Much like he had done during that two week break from the Academy before his team assignments Naruto had used his Kage Bunshin's to speed up his training. Thanks to that and his mother's helpful advice, as she shared two of his chakra natures, he was able to master his water and earth affinities quickly. As far as his wind affinity went he could only thank his father for keeping the information for manipulation training in the library.

However not all of his time was reserved for the ninja arts. In fact he had set aside a significant portion of his day so he could spend time with the spirit of his zanpakuto. While he had yet to hear her name, and as such release her true form, the spirit still had much to teach him. For the last six weeks he had been learning the techniques created for him by the Shinigami. These techniques however could only be used by those who could use reiatsu which as far as he knew was only he himself and the Shinigami. These were called Kido techniques and were divided into two branches, Bakudo (the way of binding), and Hado (the way of destruction). One peculiar thing about these techniques or spells as his zanpakuto spirit called them, was that they used chants instead of hand seals and as such could not be copied. His thoughts however were broken as Tenzou spoke up.

"You've come a long way in the past month Naruto-kun. In fact you've come so far so quickly that I really have nothing left to teach you. As I stated when we started your elemental training should have taken years but since you can summon so many clones at once you cut that time down to a single month. While you haven't mastered everything I taught you you've learned it well enough so that all you need now is practice and experience. While it has been a pleasure working with you our time together has come to an end for now. However once you reach chuunin and if you become interested in ANBU I'll try getting you on my squad. Other than that if you need anything you know where to find me."

With that said the jounin gave the boy a nod of respect before he vanished in a puff of smoke. Seeing this Naruto sighed knowing he was on his own now as he doubted Kakashi would suddenly take an interest in training his team.

Things had also gone nicely outside of his training in the last month. At his mother's direction he had paid a visit to his father's teammates Inuzuka Tsume and Hyuga Hizashi. His meeting with Tsume had gone far better than he'd expected as the woman had actually already suspected him of being the Yondaime's son. She had also informed him that she had tried to formally adopt him several times since the night of his birth but was blocked by the civilian council at every turn. At the end of their meeting he had also been introduced to Tsume's daughter, Kiba's older sister Hana. Though he requested that she keep his lineage a secret for the time being the boy was still now known as an ally to the Inuzuka and as such fell under their protection.

His meeting with the Hyuga however had been a bit different from jump. When he'd asked the guards at the compound entrance for an audience with Hizashi he had been pulled inside and sent to meet with the current clan head. Not only was he placed before Hiashi but his old classmate Hinata, her younger sister Hinabi, and Hizashi's son Neji had been there when the guard told the man of his request. Not long after that he was told that Hizashi had actually passed on three years after his father had, something he'd noticed caused Neji to clench his fist in anger.

Still meeting with Hiashi was as good as meeting with Hizashi would have been as the two were twins and as such knew all the same people. All it had taken was for him to say that his father and Hizashi had been teammates as gennin and he'd had the Hyuga heads undivided attention, after he excused the other three of course. The discussion following this had been one that had forced the boy to release more information than he had been comfortable with. He had been pushed to tell the man that a kekki genkai had activated within him from his mothers side that had the affect of changing his appearance to match up with her. By the time he left the Hyuga estate he had the support of the Hyuga clan as well.

True to his mothers belief Inoichi had put the icing on the cake himself. This had been proven true when Chouza and Shikaku had actually come to see him. Shikaku had actually said he was ashamed he hadn't figured out who he was even with all the signs as he had just thought figuring it out would be too troublesome. In the end he had been placed under the protection of both their clans effectively giving him the support of all five of Konoha's current top shinobi clans.

Shaking himself from his thoughts the red head was surprised to find himself standing in front of the village main entrance. Looking around he spotted Sasuke leaning against the gate to his right with Sakura right next to him her mouth running a thousand miles per minute. Seeing this and not feeling like dealing with either of them so early in the day he moved over to the other side of the gate. Five minutes later he looked up as the stench of cheap liquor hit his nose accompanied by the unmistakable sound of Kakashi's girlish giggling. As the masked pervert reached them the giggling abruptly came to a halt as his book was snapped shut and placed within the safety of his utility pouch.

"Good you're all here." Said Kakashi almost as soon as he arrived in front of them.

"Now then as you all know we will be taking a C-ranked mission for today. Our mission is a relatively simple escort and guard service. We are to escort Tazuna-san here to the Land of Wave's where he will be building a bridge that will connect Nami no Kuni to Hi no Kuni. We are to protect him from bandits along the way until the time the bridge has been completed upon which time we will return home."

As he said this the man motioned to Tazuna for his introduction. Tazuna was a man that stood at a height of 5'10". He had short spiky grey hair and a beard to match it with beady black eyes covered by glasses. He wore a dull grey shirt and pants along with the zori sandals typically worn by civilians. In his left hand he held a bottle of what had to be the cheapest smelling sake to have ever hit his nose. Finally he had travelers pack strapped to his back supported by his broad shoulders.

"Hatake-san are you sure about these brats they look as if they should still be in school. Also what's with the brat with the pink hair I thought ninja were supposed to be stealthy with her around we'll be lucky if they can't spot us a mile away."

Though whispered and slurred Naruto was able to hear and understand the man's words as if they had been spoken for everyone to hear.

{_You know kaa-san I've yet to find a single thing wrong with this whole half demon thing. In fact now that I think about it being human sucks in comparison._} Thought the red head with a smirk.

{You just got lucky Naru-chan, as the only present hint of your demon half is your hair. If you'd have had a more obvious attribute like ears and a tail you wouldn't think these were so good especially living in a human village.} scolded Kushina.

"Now before we head out I need a quick equipment check so packs out, Sakura go first." Said Kakashi breaking the boy from his inner conversation.

"Ok I brought a sleeping bag, my make-up kit, hair care products including shampoo and conditioner, eight more outfits, this weeks issue of Kunoichi Weekly and this months Gossip Girl magazine."

As the pink haired girl finished her inventory the present males including Tazuna sweat dropped with Kakashi palming his face. Sighing the jounin sensei of Team Seven grabbed a scroll from his vest and handed to her.

"Sealed inside that scroll are fifty shuriken and kunai, three stacks of explosive tags, a case of smoke pellets and several ration bars. That is the standard equipment pack for a C-rank mission and the only reason I haven't tossed your pack is because you at least brought some hopefully useful outfits. Now unwrapped your hitae-tae so it takes it bandana form and wrap your hair as the scroll I gave you a week ago instructed." Said Kakashi before motioning to Sasuke.

"I've got fifty kunai and shuriken, smoke bombs, three stacks of explosive tags, ration bars, two collapsible fuuma shuriken and three spare outfits." Said the Uchiha getting a nod from Kakashi before he motioned to the team's resident red head.

Naruto seeing this pulled out a scroll before unrolling and unsealing the contents inside getting a raised eyebrow from his sensei and narrowed eyes from his usually brooding teammate.

"I've got one hundred kunai and shuriken, my complete thie- I mean prank kit including fifty smoke and flash pellets, my lock pick set. I've also got two hundred explosive tags, a couple jutsu scrolls from jiji, thirty packets of instant ramen, fifty water bottles, a copy of Intro to Sealing, a copy of So You Want To Be Hokage written by Yondaime, my camera and blackmail collection including Iruka-sensei and Anko making out on his desk and Kakashi with his mask off, a picture of Ibiki's wife, and a picture of Uchiha Mikoto in lingerie."

The red head was cut off here as the picture was snatched from his hands by Sasuke whose eyes went wide before Kakashi took it from his unresponsive hands. As he looked his eyes also went wide in shock for there in the picture was Uchiha Mikoto sitting with her legs folded in nothing but a red bra and thong panties along with a garter belt and stockings. On the left side of her was a short message written in red ink that read:

'_To Naruto-kun,_

_Good things come to those who wait.'_

Pure silence reigned in the area as team seven, Kakashi, Tazuna, and even the gate guards could only look at the red head in shock, and with the exception of Sasuke and Sakura, awe, respect and envy. Even Kushina had gone silent with shock upon seeing a picture of her old friend in her lingerie clearly posing for her son. Numb Kakashi could only hand the boy back the framed photo which was quickly sealed away with the rest of his things before the group silently made their way out the gates and away from the village.

AN: That's a wrap for this chapter. The next one should be up soon enough. Until that time however thanks for reading and please review. TILL NEXT TIME. SEE YA!


	6. Chapter 6

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 6

For the most part the journey to Wave had been made in silence. With the exception of the trips first thirty minutes in which time Sakura wouldn't stop asking questions and Kakashi ended up giving an impromptu lecture about the five great shinobi villages everyone had been pretty much keeping to themselves.

Sasuke spent his time quietly brooding though whether it was over his brother or the fact that his teammate carried around a picture of his mother in her lingerie was up for grabs. Sakura spent her time mostly looking at the scenery, glancing at Sasuke before opening and then closing her mouth before she even spoke a word.

Tazuna busied himself by drinking sake from a wooden flask he was carrying. Kakashi appeared to have immersed himself into the world of Icha Icha, when in actuality he was still trying to figure out how Naruto had gotten those pictures especially the one with him without his mask and finally there was Naruto who had also buried his nose into a book he was reading.

In truth Naruto had spent the time immersed in conversation with his mother and the spirit of his zanpakuto. For the last few hours Kushina had been regaling the two with stories of her past while living in Konoha before she found herself pregnant once again. Finally Naruto returned to the world of the living as he glanced down finding he'd somehow stepped into a puddle. Shaking his head and his foot to dry it off he continued forward after his team.

Suddenly two men both bearing scratched out Kiri hitae-tae burst out of the puddle causing Kakashi to turn around just in time to see a set of claws impale Naruto through the back and out his stomach. Turning with their sensei Sasuke went wide eyed while Sakura screamed loud enough to wake anything that had been sleeping within the forest. Smirking beneath his mask one of the two men moved to remove his clawed gauntlet from the corpse only for said gennin to burst into a pile of rose petals.

Before they could do more than register their confusion both Kiri nin found their arms snapping and locking behind them. It had happened so fast and with such force both became unbalanced so much so they were unable to recover quick enough to avoid to avoid falling on their faces. Before they could hit the ground Sasuke appeared over both connecting with a leg drop to the back of both of their necks.

"**Bakudo #1 Sai**." Stated Naruto calmly stepping out from the cover of the trees.

"Good job Naruto, Sasuke though Sakura I didn't think you would freeze up like that." Stated Kakashi walking over to the downed chuunin level nuke-nin.

"Naruto when did you recognize the trap?" asked Kakashi as he crouched over the fallen nin.

"When I noticed the puddle on the ground even though it hasn't rained in months." Answered the boy simply.

Kakashi nodded at that making a mental note to get the full story from the boy later on.

"These guys are a pair of Kiri nuke-nin known as the Demon Brothers, both of them chuunin level." Said Kakashi his voice hard as he turned on Tazuna who recoiled at the glare the masked jounin was sending him.

"Would you mind explaining to me why a pair of chuunin nuke-nin would be trying to kill you Tazuna-san?" asked Kakashi.

"I-I don't know what your talking about?" stuttered Tazuna as he looked towards the unconscious demon brothers.

"What he means is that there are only a few targets they could've had." Said Naruto bringing the groups attention to himself.

"The first two would be me and Sasuke. Sasuke because he's an Uchiha and me because the civilian council and a few stubborn old goats hate me. However neither of them targeted Sasuke and only one came after me simply because I stepped within the puddle. The reason for them not going for Sasuke would most likely be because the official story from Konoha is that all of the Uchiha clan was annihilated. As for me the civilian council could've never gotten a foreign nin, even a nuke-nin to assassinate me as they don't have that kind of reach, while those three old goats are too prideful to hire a foreigner to come after me.

Of course they could've also been after Kakashi-sensei, however a pair of chuunin trying to assassinate a jounin doesn't make any sense as on average one jounin is worth ten of your average chuunin. Kakashi-sensei however has been a jounin since he was 14 so he is far from average. With Kakashi ruled out and Sakura coming from a civilian background of low class that leaves only you, our client who has been jumpy since we left the village." Finished the red head shocking everyone with his insight.

'_Kami this kid seems like he gets smarter everyday_.' Thought the cycloptic jounin.

"Well said Naruto-kun. Now Tazuna-san would you like to explain yourself, if not we can always go home. As the student of a former Hokage I know for a fact Sandaime-sama will not hold it against me or my team for discontinuing this mission." Said Kakashi calmly.

"Ok you got me." Said Tazuna with a sigh before sitting with his back against a tree an action quickly mimicked by the three gennin though Kakashi chose to remain standing.

"The truth is this mission is above C-rank, unfortunately the land of Waves has gone bankrupt and can no longer afford to pay for an expensive B or even A-ranked mission. A little over a year ago a wealthy business man came to the land of Waves by the name of Gato. The little swine bought out every shipping and exporting company we had. Nami no Kuni is a small chain of islands surrounded completely by water by owning all shipping and exports he owns the country.

Almost immediately he began raising prices that the Daimyo actually went broke trying to support us once we could no longer support ourselves. Then the Daimyo and his family were killed and Gato began taxing us to live. When people wouldn't pay he took some of the women and children as examples selling most into slavery those he kept have become his personal pleasure slaves.

He has a private army of bandits which he uses to enforce his rules and protects the drugs he traffics. It has gotten so bad that many of the women and even some of the children have been forced into prostitution just to keep their families together. Twelve year old girls have sex in the streets with the bandits just to give the money back to Gato.

Compared to the others I was lucky. Though I'm a fishermen I owned a small hotel which my daughter ran so I've had enough money to support her, my grandson, and I. I used the last of that money to fund this mission."

Kakashi frowned as he heard this, an action he had unknowingly mirrored from Kushina. He'd seen a lot during his life having been a shinobi since he was four and fighting in the last Shinobi War. However even in war there were rules and no one ever made whores out of little girls. Sure they may kill them and that's only if they had no choice but no one not even those from Iwa had forced children into prostitution. Hell even those that ended up raped were at least fifteen and that's at the youngest.

Glancing behind him he could each of his three charges had been effected by the man's story. Sakura had a look of horror on her face, most likely having pictured herself in the place of one of Wave's citizens. Sasuke was doing his best to look unaffected but just by looking at his wide disbelieving eyes one could see it was a losing effort. Finally there was Naruto who Kakashi was actually struggling to read and could just barely tell his was angry.

* * *

If there was one place that Ino loved in the village it would have to be the Namikaze garden. Having grown up living above a flower shop the girl had a natural appreciation for plants and flowers and the Namikaze home had plenty of them many of which she'd never even seen until she set foot on the property. She could still vividly remember the day he first brought her here.

Flashback no Jutsu:

_Ino stood in awe at the sight that greeted her. Flowers and plants of all kinds could be seen all around her. Many of those around her had been thought to be extinct yet many more of them she had never even seen in pictures. _

"_I see you are enjoying the sights." Said a feminine voice snapping her out of her awed trance. _

_Turning towards the voice Ino found herself looking at a woman who stood at about 5'5" with deep red hair pulled into a ponytail that went down to her mid back. She wore a sleeveless light orange blouse which buttoned down start just beneath her breast with a mesh shirt beneath it. Black spandex shorts could be seen next beneath an orange skirt of the same color. Oddly enough the skirt didn't close up in the front allowing for the shorts to be seen. On her waistline the signature spiral symbol Naruto wore could be seen on a brown belt also in orange. Finally the space over her right knee was bandage covering the small gap left by her shorts. _

"_My name is Namikaze Kushina, I'm Naruto's mother." Said the woman causing the girl to go wide eyed._

"_As you can see my son did not escort me out here; that is because I will be speaking to you alone for now." _

_As this was said she sat down in front of an empty section of the garden just to the left of the house and motioned for Ino to do the same. Once seated she pulled out a sack of flower seeds and handed Ino five._

"_These are seeds for Konoha Fire Lilly's, something that is very rare and can only be found in certain parts of Hi no Kuni outside of my garden. This flower is the symbol for the kunoichi of our village and the reason behind the term 'Will of Fire'. Now contrary to what you may believe you like these seeds have yet to even begin to bud._

_Now your father has tried his hardest to make you grow on his own only for his efforts to fail, you became spoiled and as a result rotted before you could even bloom. This led you to the situation you are in now, you basically sold yourself into slavery over something that shouldn't have mattered to you and if it wasn't for the fact that it's my son that you sold yourself to you would have already had your shinobi license revoked been moved out of your house and have cum leaking out of all three of your holes most likely waiting for yourself to die." _

_As she said this Ino found herself paling as she knew the words the woman spoke were truthful and that hit her more than her fathers speech ever could as Kushina wouldn't sugarcoat anything._

"_However likes these seeds you can still become a truly beautiful flower. In order to do that we're going to have to take an unorthodox approach."_

_As she said this she took the seeds from Ino and placed them on the ground a few feet in front of them. Moving back towards Ino she ran through a few short seals and after taking a breath blew out a large fireball directly onto the seeds. Ino could only look on in shock as the seeds seemed to feed of the flame before after what seemed like barely a few moments she was looking at blood red flowers that seemed to glow as tiny and harmless pink and orange sparks erupted from them every now and then._

"_From now on you will have to earn everything you get. You have been granted several privileges already and if you want to keep them you'll have to work for them. From now on your focus should be on your training and missions nothing else. With the exception of your new master there will be no boys on your mind. Naruto knows this so I will tell you I have had my own share of slaves in my life both male and female and you will be treated no differently._

_While you are here you will learn secrets that have been kept from the village and even the Hokage. These secrets are not to get out as some of them can lead to the next shinobi war. Now I know your reputation as a gossip but this will help you in the future as you're a natural for the T&I division and will need to learn how to keep your mouth shut, otherwise I'll have your shinobi license revoked._

_Now you are to be here every morning at five in the morning. When you get here you will wake my son and escort him to the onsen where you will wash him. After you're finished with that you will come to me for training before heading off to meet your team. After you leave your team you will return here to continue your duties before heading home." Said the woman getting a nod from the blushing blonde._

"_Now from now on you will call me Kushina-sama, unless we are training when you will call me sensei. You will only refer to my son as Naruto-sama or master. Other than that this here explains everything about your new station and how you should behave." Finished the woman handing a book to the girl._

Flashback no jutsu- Kai:

After that Ino had learned one thing about her new master's mother, when training the woman was a sadist to the bone. She had never been as exhausted in her life as even the two weeks training prior to this had seemed tame. Still Ino knew better than to complain knowing now it was her fault for neglecting the physical work she should have been doing while in the academy. Despite this she had never felt better about herself than she did now.

She had also learned much about her master in the time spent here and could honestly say he was not the person she had thought him to be. For instance while everyone knew that Naruto was an orphan she had never imagined the depth of his loneliness and had always just pegged him as annoying not realizing his pranks had all been a subtle call for attention. Where she had Choji, Shikamaru, and Sakura growing up he had no one but himself and the Hokage who was seemingly always busy which for a child was not good.

Of course she was happy that he had his mother for him now, even though she knew that neither really like the circumstances. Then again if she'd had her comatose mother sealed inside her for her whole life, and was treated the way Naruto was she knew she wouldn't have come out half as well as he did.

She had also learned he was also far kinder than most had believed him capable of being. She was actually surprised with how well he treated her, especially after how big of a bitch she was to him during the academy. Granted she hadn't been as bad as Sakura had but she was still up there and now she was his slave and he wasn't even taking advantage of the fact. If that wasn't enough he gave her so much leeway which she knew she wouldn't have with anyone else.

Not only had he let her keep her hitae-tae but she still lived at home with her father, when he could have forced her to quit and move in with him. On top of this he didn't even take advantage of the fact that she bathed him every morning now. Though the first time had been rather awkward she'd admit if only to herself she enjoyed the fact that she had the privilege of running her hands over his nude and wet form. She'd even grown used to being nude in front of him something she had never thought would happen.

She had also learned a number of secrets that apparently not even the Hokage and the council knew. Who'd have ever imagined that the Yondaime had actually married the Kyuubi and that Naruto was the child made from that union. On top of this the attack had been forced due to a Sharingan induced genjutsu. That such a thing was possible, even after Kushina had just given birth scarred the wits out of the blonde girl.

Now that she knew these things however she had realized that not everything in the village was as it seemed. For instance she'd realized the adults had labeled Naruto as a trouble maker even before he had actually started acting out. They had gone so far as to isolate him from everyone else and even made sure the children followed their example. She also knew that if word got out that Naruto is the Yondaime's son people would change their tune if only so they could get in his good graces. On the flip side if people discovered that it was the Uchiha that had caused Kushina's rampage Sasuke would not be treated like the golden boy of the village.

'_And I'd have been Naruto's fangirl instead of the Uchiha's_.' thought the blonde with a sigh.

Despite the fact that she didn't want to admit it she now realized that every decision they made as children had been influenced by adults. For instance Sasuke's fan club hadn't formed until after the massacre when the villagers started praising his strength for surviving. Before that though not many people had even known who he was. As much as she was loathed to admit it her master is right and human's are little more than sheep. She would admit that she was included in that as well, after all it had been that mentality to follow the heard that had gotten her into the situation she was in now. It seemed that Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, and Hinata had been the only ones in her class to see this as well.

Sighing the blonde shook herself from her thoughts before she turned her attention back to the garden and tending to the section Kushina told her was safe. After all there was no way she was going near the demon plants those things seemed to feed off chakra and she had nowhere near enough to survive that section.

* * *

That night the Konoha shinobi and their client could be found in a clearing off the side of the road near the area they'd confronted the demon brothers. Kakashi had opted to rest there for the night as they were still an hour away from the border and the nearest town respectively. Each member of team seven had once more fell into their patterns Kakashi reading his smut, Sasuke brooding, Sakura oogling said Uchiha, and Naruto generally ignoring all of them.

Deep within the boy however Kushina was seething in rage her contempt of Kakashi at an all time high. She couldn't believe the nerve of the bastard putting her kit at risk to stroke the Uchiha's already massive ego. Naruto himself simply watched warily as his mother was ripping apart Kakashi constructs viciously. Of course he himself couldn't blame her as he was also not happy with the white haired jounin.

After all he'd known and pointed out that this team was not prepared for a mission of this caliber. Instead he had put it to vote he'd started with Sasuke and played on the Uchiha's ego in order to continue forward. Sakura had been next for the simple fact that she'd be all to eager to agree with the Uchiha as her fangirl nature demanded.

Naruto could damn near smell the smug sense of satisfaction from the man before he even moved to glance at him and had already moved to the side of the road, his demonic pride the only thing keeping him from banging his head repeatedly against a tree. Instead he settled for sinking into a seated position and delving down to speak with his mother about the situation.

That had been about thirty minutes ago in mindscape time which would probably only be a couple of minutes in the real world if that long. Finally the nine tailed vixen calmed as the final Kakashi construct lay dead at her feet with its throat torn out.

"Ok kit your next opponent will undoubtedly be a jouinin. You'll have to go all out if you even hope to survive if Kakashi manages to screw up again, which judging by his actions so far he will."

As she said this the red headed vixen sat down motioning for her son to sit before her. Doing as told the gennin sat before his mother his calm expression dropped allowing for her to see his confusion. Not even a second after he had sat himself down a pair of arms wrapped around him as the spirit of his zanpakuto made herself known holding the boys back to her chest.

"From here on out your training will kick up a notch. Your mother will be teaching you how to use your elements while I teach you more about kido and its applications."

Naruto nodded as he relaxed within the familiar comfort of her embrace. After a bit of trail and error the rookie gennin had made it so that his mindscape and soulscape blended together allowing the three of them to interact at the same time.

* * *

Outside of the Uzumaki's head Kakashi could be found with a frown under his masked face as he sat with his back to a tree. He knew he should have taken the team back to the village but he also knew his team was behind all the other rookie gennin teams. The main thing the cell was lacking was teamwork as no matter how hard he'd tried to force it the tree never seemed to work together. This was the reason he was continuing with the mission as the current situation would force them to develop the necessary teamwork to survive.

Of course such a problem had been visible the moment the three had been placed together. Uchiha Sasuke cared for nothing but power and thought himself invicible only because of his clan name. Haruno Sakura was a pathetic fangirl and a rabid one at that who did nothing but swoon over the Uchiha, meaning she was a hindrance at worse and useless at best.

Finally there was Uzumaki Naruto who while not what his file had stated still had his flaws most concerning among them being trust issues. Naruto trusted no member of the cell outside of Naruto and only depended on Naruto. Of course this was understandable considering how he had grown up. Despite this Naruto was also the strongest of the gennin and was already chuunin level. Of course compared to most he was underpowered but he was still chuunin level as his cunning mind could make up for his shortcomings in power.

Because of these shortcomings he had been running the team ragged with teamwork drills only for everything to fall short of his objective. Sure they could work together but it never lasted long as in the end the boys only relied on themselves and Sakura relied on Sasuke.

"Alright you three listen up." Called the masked jounin easily catching the attention of the gennin.

"As of now we are in enemy territory. The rest of our journey will proceed quietly until we reach our destination. Now I've set up a watch rotation so listen closely. Naruto you take first watch for two hours. After that time passes wake Sakura for her shift, Sakura after two hours you'll wake Sasuke for his. Sasuke after two hours you wake me and I will take the last three hours.

Naruto as of this moment you are second in command of this mission and from now on the designated leader of team seven. This is because you're the only one who passed my test earlier. You realized that this group was not ready for a mission of this magnitude after hearing Tazuna's story and stated we should return home and have a more experienced squad replace us.

Sasuke you failed because you let your thirst for power get the better of you. You realized the danger involved in this mission could force your latent Sharingan into activity and voted to continue. Sakura you failed because you didn't think and just voted the way Sasuke did in hopes of gaining his attention. This is not a game Sakura this is the real deal and live are on the line especially yours as you are the weakest member of this team if not your entire graduating class.

Now despite this we will continue the mission. However I have already sent word back to the village requesting additional support from the Hokage. Now each of you eat quickly, then Naruto begin your shift while the rest of us go to bed." Finished Kakashi before he moved over to speak with Tazuna.

In his wake the jounin left three shocked gennin wide eyed and even though it couldn't be seen even Kushina's jaw had dropped in shock.

AN: That's it for this chapter. I know it was mostly filler but I needed to put it out and didn't want you guys waiting anymore. Anyway you'll be happy to know I've already started on the next chapter which won't take me anywhere near as long to complete, I hope. Till then ya'll LATER.


	7. Chapter 7

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 7

AN: Hey what's up people Happy new year. Since it's a new year I'm gonna kick it off with a new chapter for this story right here. Unfortunately I didn't get my manga fix this weekend for bleach or naruto so this is the next best thing. With that said here's the new chapter.

Start Now:

After a night of rest the group was up bright and early each of them keeping silent and to themselves. It seemed that the one thing they had in common was not one member of team 7 was a morning person. Tazuna for his part as just happy that the team was continuing with the mission, he was even happier that the jounin had called for backup after learning everything about the situation. Finally Kakashi spoke up bringing the groups attention to himself.

"Alright we'll remain here for now until backup can meet up with us. While we wait however I have a training exercise for you guys, something vial for all shinobi chakra control."

As he said this Kakashi noticed that only Sakura seemed to be paying any attention. However according to her file anything academic seemed to catch her attention.

"Now I know you all learned the leaf sticking exercise in the academy. The one I will teach you now is the next one above that, tree climbing." As he said this the copy nin inwardly laughed at the bewildered expressions on Sasuke's and Sakura's faces.

"Um sensei how exactly is climbing a tree supposed to make us stronger?" questioned the pink haired girl causing Naruto to snort as he rolled himself over so his back was facing her.

"Would you like to answer her Naruto?" questioned Kakashi his single eye focused on the red head.

"Too early." Muttered the red head not even bothering to open his eyes causing the masked jounin to sigh.

"Very well. Now Sakura the tree climbing exercise is not done by climbing traditionally with your hands and feet. Instead you must channel a set amount of chakra to your feet which will enable you to walk up surfaces like walls and trees." Explained Kakashi causing the girls mouth to make an 'o' shape.

"The feet however are said to be the hardest place for someone to channel chakra. Theoretically speaking mastering this ability will allow someone to learn any jutsu." Finished Kakashi causing Sakura's eyes to widen while Sasuke's suddenly gained focus.

His lesson for today given Kakashi produced a trio of kunai before tossing them, each landing at the foot of one of his students.

"You guys can use those to mark your progress. I would suggest using a running start in the beginning. Also watch your chakra usage, too little and you'll fall off and too much you'll blow the bark beneath you out and launch yourself off." Said the man before fishing his book out from his pouch and walking off.

Without a word to either of the other gennin Naruto calmly stood to his feet and walked the length of a tree until he was about 25 feet up where he proceeded to sit with his back to the base. Chuckling to himself Kakashi watched as the remaining to gennin came out of their stupors and grabbing their kunai heading for their own trees, though Sasuke glared at the seemingly already sleeping red head first.

Barely an hour later Naruto's eyes shot open as he jumped off the tree rebounding himself until he hit the ground. At the same time Kakashi stood to his feet his book snapping shut and easily being slid into his pocket. A few moments later a blur shot out of the trees and landed before them in a crouch. Seeing the standard issue jounin garb the man wore both relaxed especially upon seeing his face.

"My name is Yamato; I'll be your support on this mission." Said the man getting a smirk from both the gennin and the jounin.

"Sasuke, Sakura." Called Kakashi catching the attention of his other two gennin.

"Take the next hour to rest, afterwards will be travelling again." Said Kakashi before turning back towards the newly arrived Yamato.

Naruto chuckled in relief seeing the familiar face before closing his eyes once more and delving back into his soulscape.

Barely two hours after Yamato's arrival the group of leaf nin and their charge found themselves sitting within a small boat crossing the invisible border that separated Nami no Kuni and Hi no Kuni.

"Humph clever." Muttered Naruto quietly catching the attention of his former trainer.

"What's wrong?" muttered Yamato just as quietly.

"This mist, there's a small amount of chakra in it."

Yamato frowned hearing that, not even entertaining the notion of doubting the boy. In their time together he'd discovered that while not a sensor type Naruto could easily sense the chakra of those around him, even in minimal amounts. A few minutes later and the small group could see a massive stone bridge just in front of them which produced a gasp from Sakura, and wide eyes from Sasuke. Even Kakashi had to admit that the bridge was nice though he had more experience destroying them than building them.

Barely two minutes after seeing the bridge the Konoha nin and their client had climbed off the boat leaving the boatman to disappear into the mist. Now on land the group was quick to head towards Tazuna's home, the gennin surrounding him in a triangle formation, while Kakashi and Yamato took the front and rear respectively. Suddenly Naruto froze causing everyone to come to a halt and look at him just in time to see his eyes go wide.

"DOWN."

As the word left him Naruto was already pulling Tazuna down with him. Yamato had quickly followed the warning dragging down Sakura and Sasuke not even a moment later along with Kakashi. Just a second later a large object flew over them its path exactly where the gennin's head's would've been.

As they rose up they were all greeted to the sight of a man standing on the handle of a large sword Naruto quickly identified as a zanpatou. The man wore a pair of grey and black camouflage pants and no shirt. Instead he had bandages wrapped around his torso along with the lower half of his face as a mask

"You've got a good set of ears on you gaki." Said the man nonchalantly as he eyed the group.

"Heh, no wonder the demon brothers failed going up against two jounin one of them the famous 'Copy Ninja'." Said the man

"Well if it isn't the so called 'Demon of the Bloody Mist' Momochi Zabuza. I take it your working for Gato as well." Said Kakashi nonchalantly successfully pulling all of the man's attention towards himself.

"At the moment so do us all a favor and just hand over the old man and no one has to get hurt." Said Zabuza.

"Now you know that's not possible, he's our client after all." Said Kakashi causing Zabuza's eyes to narrow.

"Yamato stay with Tazuna and the gennin, someone like him requires my full attention." Said Kakashi his right hand gripping his hitae-tae and raising it so it was no longer slanted revealing his hidden eye to the world.

"Well now revealing the Sharingan so early. It wont make a difference I'll still get the old man."

'_Sharingan, how is it possible for him to have it_.' Thought Sasuke in shock.

Suddenly both Zabuza and his sword disappeared only for the man to appear standing on the surface of a nearby lake his sword now strapped to his back. At the same time he raised his right arm so it extended upward as his left formed a half ram seal in front of his chest.

"Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu." Muttered the nuke-nin before the mist surrounding them began to thicken until you could barely see three inches in front of you.

"Eight points: Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, brain, kidney, and heart. Now which vital organ do you want to get struck at?"

Tazuna shivered as the man's voice echoed through the mist. He however wasn't the only one who found themselves shivering as both Sakura and Sasuke found themselves shivering at the killing intent that hit them as the words came out. Even Naruto was affected by the man, though not to the point he was shivering in fear.

'_I'll be damned if some human reduces me to that_.' Thought the red head in contempt not so much for the man being human, but for him reacting like his so called teammates.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, calm down." Said Yamato quickly catching the group's attention.

"Don't forget there are two jounin between you guys and him, as long as you follow directions you'll come out of this just fine." Said the man his words having a visual affect as the gennin relax.

"Really now, I doubt that."

As the words hit them Zabuza suddenly appeared in the middle of them just in front of Tazuna his sword cocked back to slash threw him. However instead of swinging at Tazuna he spun to the side pulling the sword in front of him just in time to block Naruto's. Zabuza smirked as the boy's green eyes glared at him through the blades easily holding the boy off, at least before he moved his arm resulting in Naruto sliding back several feet. Still it was enough for Yamato to stab his kunai into the man's side, only for him to burst into water.

"Fool."

The word quickly caught the group's attention only for their eyes to widen upon turning to the source to find Kakashi being held prisoner in a water prison. Seeing this Naruto drew his sword prepared to attack himself only to be halted by Yamato.

"Save it. I'll take care of this." Said the man, his words easily calming the teen who sheathed his blade much to the sword spirits irritation.

Zabuza chuckled down at his prisoner before forming water clone with a single half seal. As the clone formed it stuck its arm into the sphere allowing for the real Zabuza to remove his.

"I don't know you, but since it's been a while since a Konoha nin was added to the bingo book, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully your more fun than Kakashi." Said Zabuza with a laugh before charging.

Yamato charged as well his hands flying through seals at a fast rate before he stopped and after bringing a hand to his lips exhaled a large fireball. Zabuza didn't slow in the slightest running straight at the ball of flames before slashing through it with his sword. Yamato had expected this however and had already finished another chain of seals stomping his foot and launching a trio of earth made spears at the man. Zabuza laughed at the effort hopping over the linear spears almost as soon as they reached him only for a splash of water to reach him barely a second later.

Turning with wide eyes the man found Kakashi standing to his feet as the water prison collapsed, his Mizu Bunshin having been dispelled due to an earth spear. Because of this he was just in time to see Kakashi finishing the seals for a jutsu.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu (Water Element: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)"

As the jutsu was called out Zabuza's eyes widened as a massive dragon made of water made its appearance its eyes glowing bright and yellow. The dragon roared a sound that anything within the area could hear easily before descending on the man, only for him to jump away just barely escaping it. Swinging his sword onto his back he began flying through the seals for one of his stronger techniques.

As he landed his eyes widened finding Kakashi glaring at him his hands flying through the exact same seals. As he neared the last seal he suddenly froze for but a second, however that second was all Kakashi needed finishing up the rather long chain of seals.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique)."

As the words left him a large column of water rose up so high that it towered over everyone before falling down on Zabuza much like a waterfall. Unfortunately for the nuke-nin he had no time to escape as the wave of water slammed into him easily picking him up as it carried him along slamming his body into and through multiple trees before its power died out leaving his battered form lying against the bark of a more sturdy tree.

Sakura and Sasuke were looking on with wide eyes at the path of destruction the water wave had left in its wake causing Yamato to chuckle. As Kakashi approached Yamato left following the path of destruction.

"Tsunami, Inari I'm home."

Tazuna's voice echoed through the halls of the water docked home joyously. Almost immediately a woman in her mid twenties entered the entranceway throwing her arms around the older man as a young boy came down the stairs an air of gloom surrounding him.

"This is my daughter Tsunami and my grandson Inari. Tsunami, Inari these are the super strong ninja's that brought me home." Said Tazuna causing the woman to bow towards the ninja in gratitude for returning her father to her.

"Tazuna-san, is there anywhere I can put him down?" asked Yamato motioning to the still form of Kakashi that was draped over his shoulder like a puppet with its stings cut off.

"You should all go home. If you stay here you'll only die." Said Inari before turning around and marching up the stairs.

"Please excuse my son he's been through a lot. Now I'll escort you all to the guest rooms so you can rest." Said Tsunami motioning the group to follow her up the stairs.

As soon as he'd placed Kakashi down and the door was closed as Tsunami left the room the masked jounin's exposed eye opened.

"Ok what's wrong?" questioned Kakashi seeing the man's frowning face.

"Zabuza's still alive."

As the words were said a gasp left Sakura's lips while three pairs of eyes hardened.

"When I went to finish him off I found the area demolished but he was nowhere to be found. What I did find however was a set of footprints. I'm thinking Zabuza had someone watching the battle who escaped with him immediately after the blast died down." Explained Yamato.

"Hopefully he's banged up enough to give me time to recover. In the meantime Sasuke and Sakura you two keep working on the tree climbing exercise for now." Said Kakashi getting affirmative nods from the two gennin.

"I'll be working on my own, I have a few things I need to work on." Said Naruto locking eyes with Kakashi.

"Very well, but either Yamato or I need to know where you are at all times." Said Kakashi after a few moments of thought.

"I knew Kakashi would screw up again. Luckily Tenzou was there to bail his ass out." Said Kushina after her son finished recapping the battle with Zabuza to her.

"Now as far as Zabuza is concerned I guarantee he'll be back and in force next time." Said Kushina with a sigh.

"So what should I do?" asked Naruto.

"Continue training with Spirit for now. Because of the uniqueness of the skills she's teaching you, you'll have an advantage over your opponents." Said Kushina after a moment.

"Now while you do that during the day, I'll continue training you at night. While you train with her have your clones go over what I teach you at night. Hopefully by the time Zabuza's fully recovered you'll be ready to face him and whoever he brings along."

Nara Shikamaru sighed as he looked up at the clouds above him. While outwardly relaxing inwardly the mind of the hidden genius was running a mile a minute. Though he hadn't spoken about it he'd noticed a change in his female teammate. She'd become a lot more serious about her career as a kunoichi to the point she was now actually training. On top of this she no longer complained like she had throughout their childhood, and he hadn't heard the words 'diet' or 'Sasuke-kun' leave her lips since the day of their gennin exam.

Now while these were all good things, he didn't like the fact that he didn't know what was going on with her. Having known Ino all his life, thanks to the fact their parents had been gennin teammates, he knew that she was not the type to give into change so easily. Still while it was troublesome subject to contemplate, Shikamaru could not stop thinking about it if only because of the great deal of time he'd known her. As such he would find out what was going on no matter how troublesome it was.

Elsewhere a nappy haired midget stormed away from the hide-out of his hired shinobi cradling his broken arm. His name was Gato, founder and CEO of the Gato shipping corporation. He was a man who worked his way from the ground up, even working in the yakuza for a while as a kid. At the moment however none of that mattered to him. What did however was that the hold he had on Nami no Kuni was in danger of slipping, because the shinobi he hired couldn't manage to kill a fucking bridge builder.

Now Gato had plans for himself that he'd been working to complete for the last year. Having acquired control over all avenues of shipping the small water based country held had given him complete control over the place, especially after he'd killed the Daimyo and his family. Now he was in a position where he could take full control of the country and become its Daimyo himself and the only thing standing in his way was the completion of a damned bridge. Sure he could just blow the damned thing up but that wouldn't amount to squat if the damned villagers just built another one especially if they made it better.

This meant he had to once more use a show of force, just like when he executed that one fool who tried to stand in his way before. As such the bridge builder had to die, which would in effect rip the courage and rebellion right out of the fools helping him build the bridge. Suddenly a sick grin spread across his face as an idea came to him, if one nuke-nin isn't enough why not use two.

Naruto panted as he stood within the forest clearing sweat dripping down his form. He'd left the house to continue his training in preparation for Zabuza's next attack. As a means of communication he'd left a couple shadow clones at the house which would dispel in case he was needed. At the moment he was working on something secret and new, something he'd kept even from his mother and the spirit of his blade.

Even before the release of his abilities he'd studied the Hokage's and discovered that if he truly wanted the respect of the ninja world he'd need something unique. The Shodai had his Mokuton, the Nidaime his Suiton, Sandaime had his combination of taijutsu and ninjutsu, and the Yondaime had his Hiraishin no jutsu. The legendary technique of the Yondaime had captured his attention even then and gave him the idea of his technique. According to the Sandaime, his father had used a set of special kunai to summon himself to them allowing him to position himself behind his foes without the usual puff of ninja smoke.

This had lead him to studying jutsu theory and creation, which led to the creation of his Ooiroke no jutsu, which unknown to many outside himself, Konohamaru, and the Sandaime was an actual transformation and not an illusion. His first technique was given an A-rank by the Sandaime due to its usefulness in infiltration, for as long as you knew a person's mannerisms you may as well have been a person's twin. The fact that it had such a low chakra consumption that even the Sandaime's grandson could pull it off was also taken into account.

That however was nothing more than a side project. His main project was the development of a technique that could rival even the legendary Hiraishin. Simply put it was an improvement on the well known Shunshin no jutsu and much like the Hiraishin was designed so that he could appear and disappear in an instant. The technique was a speed technique that would allow the user to move at a speed beyond the capability of the human eye to follow, even that of a doujutsu. For this he'd been forced to develop his speed, taking up pranking to test himself whenever he felt he'd improved until it got to the point that he could flat out outrun even the Anbu. The beauty of the technique though was the faster he was physically the faster he'd move using the technique

Unfortunately despite his increase in speed even with weights he found completion of the technique out of his reach, even his massive chakra stores being of no help. The problem was that no matter what he did he couldn't get around the resistance of the gravity around him. This was a problem as regardless of someone's speed no one was immune to the natural forces of the earth which is why no matter the speed anyone could be tracked by those with trained eyes.

It wasn't until the removal of the seals that he'd made a breakthrough. While learning to draw and control his reishi he'd discovered it was a much more potent energy source, even compared to his youki. Seeing as how chakra had been of no use he'd tried it with reishi, the end result sending him slamming into a tree. Despite this he had been giddy as the technique actually worked when reiatsu was applied.

The fact reiatsu was a necessity was also a bonus as it meant his greatest fear about using the technique was no longer a problem, as even if the Sharingan could copy it, the move would be impossible to do simply because no one outside of himself, the Shinigami, and perhaps the Nibi possessed reiatsu. Sighing and shaking himself from his thoughts the red head took a deep breath and after molding his reiatsu disappeared from his spot.

AN: That's it it's done. Originally I wanted it out before new years but I got kind of pissed and went and bought Modern Warfare 2 so me and my 360 could get reacquainted. In fact the only reason this is done is because I finished it while I was at work bored. Anyway thanks for reading and leave a review or I'll send the Shinigami to devour your soul LOL just kidding. Anyway till next time LATER.


	8. Chapter 8

Foxes Tale

Chapter 8

AN: Well folks here it is, the eighth installment of A Foxes Tale. I really had two versions of this chapter half done and said to hell with it and merged them fixing a few things during the process. Anyway thanks to everyone who took the time to review. I'd also just like to say that the Sasuke-Danzo fight sucked especially the ending, then again I thought Itachi should've killed the little prick a while ago so yeah. Anyway I'll skip the ramp and give you what you came for.

Start Now:

Hidden within the midst of Nami no Kuni Naruto could be found lying on the ground of a forest clearing clearly asleep. Unknown to any who would watch him however within the inner world of his soulscape Naruto had called his mother and zanpakuto spirit so that he could demonstrate his new technique; the results however were not what he'd been expecting.

"What do you mean recreated, I've spent years developing that technique." Said Naruto his emotions clearly seen by both.

"That's just it in barely a few years you managed to recreate the technique of Shinigami-sama's design without even the knowledge of its existence. Of course it's not at the pinnacle of its use but it's amazing you've even gotten the first stage. The fact you've been able to keep the knowledge of your activities from us is also amazing." Said the spirit her tone showing her pride in his accomplishment.

"Well I guess I still have that other project to work on." Said Naruto thoughtfully.

"Other project?" questioned Kushina with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. Since jiji doesn't want me using Mokuton techniques for the time being I'm working on doing something similar but different enough that it can't be really linked. See I figure if I can manipulate the growth of trees I should be able to do the same to all plants, I was right."

As he said this Naruto picked out a rose and with an application of chakra changed the rose into a whip before changing it back. Picking up a bamboo leaf he changed that into a staff before reverting it. Two sets of eyes widened in shock at this demonstration of ability.

"That's just using regular human chakra. The results are a little different using youki as the plants take on a more sinister nature." Explained Naruto.

"Naruto do you realize what you've done?" asked Kushina causing the youth to raise an eyebrow in question.

"Sochi what you've just done shouldn't be possible. The Mokuton kekki genkai was designed solely to manipulate wood, not all plants. Hell something like that was a gift Inari-sama refused even the Kitsune clan since its birth." Explained Kushina causing the boys eyes to widen before his foxy grin covered his face.

Before anything more could be said on the subject however Naruto faded away.

* * *

A feminine figure walked through the forested area of Nami no Kuni humming a tune while carrying a basket. The figure stopped short however upon coming upon sight of the sleeping redhead. Moving forward the figure knelt down beside the boy moving to wake him at least before their hand was caught and green eyes opened.

"Can I help you?" Questioned the boy releasing the hand.

"Sorry for disturbing you but it's dangerous to be sleeping out in the open like that. Besides that you could catch cold." She said smiling kindly.

"Ah but I wasn't sleeping merely resting my eyes for a moment to absorb the atmosphere. Even if I slept her however I wouldn't get sick." Said the boy calmly.

"Still I agree it is dangerous so why would you travel here alone?" questioned the boy.

"My friend has fallen ill and I am collecting herbs so that I can help them recover."

"I see. Would you like some help?"

"I would like that." Said the female with a smile.

"So what is it that brought you out here?" questioned the girl.

"Just a little peacefulness before dealing with others and their morning attitudes." Answered Naruto.

"You are one of the shinobi Tazuna-san hired aren't you?" questioned the girl.

"Am I that obvious?"

"Not at all it's just that with such a small village everyone knows everyone. That and I noticed your headband." Answered the girl.

"You seem pretty relaxed when you could be attacked at any moment." Commented the girl after a few silent moments.

"Not at all. If anything growing up how I did taught me to never relax, when you do you'll die. Besides swine like Gato don't worry me I've dealt with his type a lot growing up. He's merely a coward who believes there is strength in money and too greedy for his own good."

"Tell me do you have anyone you hold precious to you?" Asked the girl after a few minutes of silent gathering.

"A few."

"That is good. I believe that true strength is only held by those who have someone that they wish to protect. Those with nothing to protect are weak as they have no real motivation to gain strength." Said the girl.

"That is an interesting theory. If I may ask how; did you come up with that?"

"It is an obvious fact of life. For instance a mother even a civilian will show strength beyond what hey are normally thought capable of if their child is threatened."

Naruto nodded at that having heard of such spontaneous feats of ability before. Rumor had it a civilian had once used a Shunshin to save their child when he was nearly ran down by a runaway cart a few years back.

"I've enjoyed this conversation with you but I must return and tend to my friend now." Said the girl standing.

"Give my regards to Zabuza will you." Said Naruto causing the girl to freeze in her tracks.

"Like I said I never let myself relax. When you first approached your steps were measured and much too soft and fluid for a civilians. When I grabbed your hand I noticed the calluses that could only be caused by extensive combat training, something that a civilian's hands would lack. Also there's the fact that the herbs you picked are used to recover quickly from injury, not from illness as you originally stated." Summarized the redhead with a smirk.

"So I guess we'll have to battle it out here."

"No. I didn't come here for a battle and judging by the way you're dressed neither did you. I do however look forward to the coming battle between us." Said Naruto.

"Interesting, tell me what is your name?" asked the girl.

"Uzumaki Naruto and you are?"

"I am Haku." She said before moving to leave only to pause.

"By the way I'm a boy." Said Haku.

"I knew that too. Your scent gives that away, the feminine appearance was so you could gather the herbs without appearing suspicious." Said Naruto with a smirk.

"You'll go far with that mind of yours." Said Haku before leaving.

He left just in time too as Yamato made his appearance barely a minute later.

"Hey breakfast is ready; what's wrong?" started Yamato only to turn questioning following Naruto's gaze.

"I just had an interesting conversation with Zabuza's rescuer."

* * *

When the rest of the members of team seven heard about Naruto's encounter with Haku no one was happy.

"Humph dobe he's lucky it was you he ran into, I'd have taken him out." Said Sasuke causing Naruto to snort.

"If that were the case, you wouldn't have even noticed to absorbed in that little fantasy world of yours. Had it come down to a fight however you'd have no doubt lost as he's easily chuunin level himself if not stronger. He'd have dropped you before you could blink." Retorted the redhead calmly.

"Besides it's a good thing I had that encounter, now we have an idea of how long before Zabuza returns. Those herbs can have Zabuza combat ready in five days and at 100 percent in a week. Granted the guy has to be a good medic which he most likely is."

"You look like you've got something up your sleeve." Said Yamato with narrowed eyes.

"I've got a clone shadowing Haku. Since Inuzuka's have a hard time tracking me he should be simple. If things progress like I think then we'll even get the location of Gato's hideout." Said the redhead.

"How is following Haku supposed to lead us to Gato?" asked Sakura.

"People like Gato are a dime a dozen and easy to read. I've dealt with them all the time growing up so I know. He's most likely bought into his own bullshit and thinks he's tough. This means he'll go to Zabuza and try to threaten him. Zabuza however will send his ass running back home." Explained Naruto.

"When that happens your clone will then shadow Gato back to his base." Said Yamato in realization.

"Exactly. We can finish this by dealing directly with Gato bypassing Zabuza completely. When that happens Zabuza will back off since there won't be any pay coming…shit."

"What's wrong?" Questioned Kakashi.

"My clone was just dispelled. To make matters worse Gato hired another of the damned seven swordsmen, and the only thing I got on the guy was the damn sword that gutted my clone." Snarled the red head causing the two jounin to narrow their eyes while the gennin's eyes widened.

"How do you know it was another swordsman?" asked Sakura nervously.

"Because Gato was mouthing off about it. It seems since one swordsman wasn't enough he thought two could get the job done."

"You said you saw the sword, what kind was it?" asked Kakashi

"The weird kind, I swear I've never seen anything like it it's like a pike that was fashioned into a sword."

"Kurosaki Raiga" muttered Kakashi with a frown.

"Change of plans. Yamato I need these three combat ready in five days can you do it?"

"For Naruto yeah he's already a chuunin in all but title. Sasuke may be ready too if I can force his Sharingan into manifestation. But there's no way with Sakura, not in a week and certainly not in five days."

"Naruto where are you going?" questioned Kakashi seeing Naruto turning to leave and forcing him to stop.

"I need to train. I've been putting off my jutsu training in favor of kenjutsu but I don't think it will be enough. Judging by Haku words earlier he may be Zabuza's apprentice so his kenjutsu may very well be better than mine as I have no doubt Zabuza would train him to use a sword if that were the case. I'll be leaving some clones to guard the house though."

"No. I need you at the bridge with Tazuna. Send the clones out for the jutsu training. I know you don't like doing that but this is a time for an exception. I'd go myself but I need to get these to as close to combat ready as possible." Said Yamato before Kakashi could speak.

"You make it sound like Naruto-baka is actually stronger than Sasuke-kun." Said Sakura with a chuckle.

"Did I; well then here's the complete unbiased truth. Naruto is without a doubt the strongest gennin Konoha has to offer followed by Hyuga Neji last years number 1 rookie." Said Yamato.

"No way, Naruto's the dobe and Sasuke-kun's the rookie of the year and an Uchiha elite with the Sharingan kekki genkai no one can be better than him." Said Sakura

"You are naïve girl. Naruto's strength lies in the fact that people underestimate his abilities or have you still not figured that out. While Uchiha Sasuke is indeed rookie of the year he is certainly not an elite, not even in his own clan would he be considered one, especially with an inactivated Sharingan.

In truth Sasuke you are perhaps ranked as the fifth in your graduation class. First would be Naruto who outclasses you overall. Then Aburame Shino and Nara Shikamaru who are both far superior to you mentally, especially the Nara who has an IQ of 200. Hyuga Hinata is also your superior but her own shy nature and unwillingness to cause harm holds her back. Ironically by praising your abilities the villagers made you arrogant. By favoring you your academy instructors held you back not allowing you to see your faults." explained Yamato.

"As for you Haruno-san if the academy didn't focus so much on academics you'd have never graduated much like just about every other girl in your class, Hyuga Hinata and Yamanaka Ino being the exceptions. You both can blame the civilian council for this mess as they are the ones who pushed for the change the academy went through. Lucy for you I'm here to help fix the mess they made with you two.

Of course Sasuke-san you'd have no doubt been a better shinobi if you weren't the eldest of the surviving elite Uchiha and your mother could still operate as a shinobi. I say elite because not all Uchiha wanted to be shinobi, thus those who did were called elites. I have no doubt if the situation was different you'd have been like all the other clan kids, stronger than your peers. Of course the same could be said for Naruto as if his parents had been around he'd have most likely graduated early and with his rate of growth been a jounin by 13." Finished Yamato.

"**No you wouldn't we'd have made you stay in the academy**." Said Kushina causing Naruto to deflate mentally.

"Anyway I'll get Tazuna so we can head out." Said Naruto before leaving the room.

* * *

As Naruto and Tazuna arrived at the bridge they found several others just arriving as well. Creating some Shadow clones Naruto had them spread out to monitor the bridge from all corners even beneath the bridge before sitting down to meditate leaving Tazuna and the other builders to their work.

Delving into the world of his soulscape once more Naruto found it had gotten easier over time to the point that it no longer even took a minute for him to make his appearance. Since his clones were already training his jutsu and kido the redhead simply walked over to his mother and zanpakuto spirit so that they could work on what mattered most, control.

It was something that had been drilled into him by his mother since she first started his training, the one thing needed within any type of warrior both Human and Demon. Whether it was control of one's emotions, or control of ones power it was a necessary thing to gain, for Naruto this had always been a major issue. As a Hanyou Naruto possessed an unnatural amount of chakra even as an infant and adding the Shinigami's Reishi into the mix had only boosted that well of power. Unfortunately he'd spent the first twelve and a half years of his life with his youki and spiritual energy effectively sealed off. This had given him an overabundance of physical energy which could be seen with his hyper activeness when he was younger.

Over the years his wells of energy had grown yet he hadn't known of anyway of controlling it as no one was willing to teach him. Thankfully the seals holding back his youki and spiritual energy had been lifted but that had in effect made controlling his energy all the harder as his amount of power had grown significantly. It was for this reason that control was all that had been focused on early in his training, and with the aid of Kage Bunshin's that large gap of time had been made up for with ease.

However everyday his power continued to grow as the Shiki Fujin converted more of his mother's youki into chakra which he'd be capable of using as unlike his mother he was not a full blooded demon and most certainly not a Daiyouki. Because of this his mothers youki was slowly being drained from her and converted to a level that he could use it and not go mad with power. Then there had been the surprise that half of that power drawn was taken and converted into pure reishi as well. However with that rise in power he was constantly working on keeping control over his ever growing power.

He however wasn't the only one who was affected by the influx of power. His zanpakuto spirit had also been affected by the new power as well, the results of which could be seen physically. For instance her hair had long since gone from pink to as red as crimson blood to match Kushina's youki.

The lesson for today was control of ones movements in battle. Taking their positions both Hanyou and Spirit could eyed each other for but a moment before clashing blades while Kushina sat on the sidelines watching and silently noting the flaws in her son's fighting that would need to be fixed. Sure Naruto handled the blade as if it was as light as a feather but he was no kenjutsu master, though much better than his sister had been at that age. It was funny really Kimiko had been trained with a blade from a young age and yet with just over six weeks into it Naruto had surpassed her level from then quite easily.

Once again this rise in skill could be attributed to his Kage Bunshin training but now that he no longer used them to train his kenjutsu it could no longer be said as he still grew at a level surpassing his elder sister.

'_Of course Kimiko is more like mother than I ever was_.' Thought the demoness sadly.

Kushina had loved her mother, very much so in fact. However she'd grown up under Inari-sama's care and had thus followed the way of the warrior like her father. Being surrounded by males had helped with that as well instilling within her the tomboyish personality she was known for in her youth as well as her 'second' childhood within Konoha. Kimiko however had spent plenty of time under the care of her grandmother far more than she could as a child. Of course she'd also spent plenty of time with the Kitsune clan and as luck would have it the clan held more females than male members.

'_And with the way Naru-chan looks even Kimiko-chan may not be able to resist taking him to bed, especially after seeing him in his true form_.' Thought Kushina with a sigh.

The lack of males within the Kitsune clan was not something to go unnoticed. Females were more numerous having three females for every male as such it was not uncommon for a number of vixens to share a bedmate. She herself was no stranger to the situation after all Kimiko had been the result of a romp between herself and her former teacher who'd already had twelve partners before he'd even touched her.

The lack of males was the reason she was even now reluctant to allow Naruto to summon kitsunes. Naruto was still getting used to the idea of being half demon he'd probably have a nervous breakdown if he found out the situation the clan was in. It probably wouldn't help Naruto being the first male born in a century either. Of course that didn't mean that vixens weren't picky, this was especially true if a vixen was trying to breed as they'd only accept an alpha, which Naruto assuredly was.

If that wasn't enough Naruto was special, he unlike other hanyou's she'd heard of was a true hybrid, able to pass himself off as if he was pure human or Kitsune when he took his true form. Such a thing had been theorized a century ago but had been written off as impossible as all hanyou's always showed demonic traits, Naruto didn't only the traits of an Uzumaki clan member. The problem was Naruto just wasn't ready for what that would mean for his place in the clan.

'_I suppose that's where Ino and Mikoto can help_.' thought the woman.

She knew by now that Ino was developing feelings for Naruto, she'd have to be blind not to see the lustful looks she often sent at her son. Of course she also knew Ino would start to desire him over time and would want to start her duties in full soon in satisfying his desires. The whole purpose of her making Naruto accept Ino's terms was so he could learn how to please a woman.

Mikoto was a surprise but she could be just as useful as Ino, while Ino could teach him how to treat girls, Mikoto could teach him how to handle women. After all with Ino they would both be discovering what to do, while Makoto could teach him everything he would need to know. Hopefully by the time he met any other kitsunes he'd be ready for anything they threw at him.

'_Of course I have to get him through the current situation first._'

* * *

Barely an hour into working with Sasuke and Sakura, Yamato found himself once again cursing the council for what they'd done to the academy as well as its teachers. Sakura for one should have never even left the academy, her chakra reserves were miniscule nowhere near fit for a gennin, and she couldn't even throw a proper punch always putting all of her strength and weight into them leaving herself wide open for counter attacks. Her throwing skills weren't any better as she needed to be within a certain range in order to even hit a target, much less what she was actually aiming for. In short all she had was her academic achievements which were useless out in the real world, especially on the battlefield.

Sasuke was okay, but only just. Sure he had skills, and if Sakura was the standard then his rank would be justified. Thankfully he had split the two up between clones so that he could work with them separately. Still it was no wonder the boy had been spared Itachi's wrath killing him then would have been pointless. Then again none of the children had really been harmed, neither had the civilians only the elites, and of that class only the matriarch Mikoto had survived, though she could no longer have children. Sighing the jounin motioned for Sasuke to stop and moved over to the boy.

"Sasuke I'm going to tell you something very important, the same I told Naruto when I discovered his problem and something every jounin knows." Started the man catching his attention.

"Don't let your hatred blind you." Said the man simply causing the boys eyes to narrow.

"Now I'm not telling you, you have to forgive or that hatred isn't the answer. Just not to let it control you, instead you need to focus it. Every high level shinobi has someone or something they hate with all of their being. The thing is we don't allow it to swallow us whole instead we take that hatred and we use it to push ourselves to new heights, that's what made Kakashi a jounin by time he was 14. It's also what pushed Naruto to his level of strength so quickly he just needed to learn to control it as you do.

As the heir of the Uchiha clan it is your duty to become a guide for those younger than you. So instead of focusing on killing Itachi now, focus on growing your skills. Physically you have all that is required of an Uchiha elite, so focus on the mental. Fugaku wasn't the strongest of the Uchiha, Mikoto-sensei was, not physically but she was the smartest something Itachi emulated. It's why she was the only Uchiha to gain an S-rank during the war.

She knew not all battles could be decided by who was the better warrior physically but mentally. She employed all skills into herself she was and still is a surgeon with a sword and her genjutsu skills were the strongest outside of the Kurama clan, it was her who trained team eights sensei, the Genjutsu Mistress. Itachi emulated her more than anyone and that's why he succeeded that night, as his genjutsu skills were good enough to fool even a Sharingan user. She didn't focus on ninjutsu like other Uchiha's so neither did Itachi. However those they did they mastered so they knew how, and when to use them and could use them quicker than their foes. I see the same potential in you."

Throughout the man's speech Sasuke's anger with him had been constantly shifting to the point where the boy was hanging on his every word. Yamato had to hold back a smirk at the boys look, seeing he was still just a boy inside and like all boys he still needed male guidance, just as Naruto had.

"Now then I noticed from your spar with my clone earlier you've been learning the Uchiha taijutsu, most likely from scrolls. The problem with that style however is that it relies on the predicting of an opponents movements with the Sharingan, which you still don't have. You obviously don't know what it takes to activate it, so by the time I'm done with you today you will now prepare yourself."

Sasuke's eyes widened as in just that one moment Yamato had gone from relaxed to attacking and he found himself skidding across the ground.

* * *

Dinner that night was a silent affair. Tsunami had been pleasantly surprised when Naruto and Tazuna walked into the kitchen with a bucket of freshly caught fish. Despite living in a country surrounded by water it had been quite a while since she'd been able to feed the whole family a decent sized meal as Gato was patrolling the waters constantly thus made fishing impossible. Apparently Naruto had caught and sealed them into a scroll while at the bridge. Still Kakashi wanted to chuckle at the looks of his exhausted gennin none of them could even lift their heads much off the table, and for Sasuke and Sakura it took plenty of effort. Finally the silence was broken as Tazuna's grandson had enough and slammed his hands on the table crushing the silence and judging by Naruto's glare waking him, which assuredly wouldn't end well.

"Why, why do you all bother so much? What you're doing to yourselves is pointless no matter how hard you try or how much you train its impossible to beat Gato!"

"Be quiet kid, now's not the time try again in the morning." Muttered Naruto causing the boy to glare.

"SCREW YOU! You think you can just waltz in here and everything will work out fine! You spoiled teme's don't know what it is to suffer you…"

Suddenly the boy was cut off as a large pressure descended on the room. Naruto looked up slowly his pupils turned to slits making his green eyes look animalistic. Though his face was still neutral his eyes held a fury in them that spoke of pure rage.

"Since you asked I'll tell you. Gato is nothing but a fish swimming in a sea of sharks we're not even focused on him. The person I'm focused on is a million times worse than Gato, I will admit what's happened to this country is awful but don't you dare think for even a microsecond that gives you the right to speak to _me_ about suffering you snot nosed little brat."

As the boy said this the pressure seemed to grow even more intense forcing the breath from even Kakashi and Yamato.

"People like you are the reason I am beginning to despise humans always thinking the world revolves around you and your problems. Well guess what the world is a lot vaster than you can even imagine and there are people who have suffered a lot more than you. With the exception of the last few months I have been suffering every day, every hour, and every second for over a decade. I've been close to death so many times the Shinigami has taken a personal interest in me. I've been beaten, I've been stabbed, I've been tortured, and I've bled myself so much it no longer even phases me. The one thing I have never done however is roll over for the satisfaction of the bastards who did it.

Have you ever hung yourself only to be disappointed when what you used was cut down, I have. Have you ever jumped off a mountain only to be disappointed when you were caught before you could hit the bottom, because I have. Have you ever gotten to that sweet embrace that is death, only to ripped away and dragged back to the hell that is the living world, because I have."

At the boys words the two jounin looked down in sadness while everyone else found themselves paling in horror.

"You have not suffered, you haven't even lived a bad life. Even in the last few months you've been sheltered from the true horrors Gato has been putting this place through, yet you sit here and think you've had it bad. It's no wonder Kaiza's so disappointed in you."

With that said the boy left his seat and the room heading up the stairs, the pressure leaving the room as soon as he left it allowing everyone to breathe once more.

* * *

A week later and the shinobi of Konoha could be seen approaching the bridge each with an air of seriousness surrounding them. Naruto as an extra precaution had left some clones hidden around Tazuna's house so that no unplanned for actions occurred, such as a kidnapping and hostage situation. After his revelation the other night he had made himself scarce around the house waking before anyone and leaving as Kakashi was up to the task of watching Tazuna by then. As a precaution however Naruto had sent clones to the homes of the builders telling them to stay away from the bridge for the last three days of the week.

"Naruto, I meant to ask how did you know about Kaiza, none of us had been told of him until that night?" asked Kakashi quietly catching the group's attention.

"As I said I've been near death so many times that Shinigami-sama took an interest in me. I can see and communicate with anyone that has died within six month's time and allow them entrance into the next world, provided I am at their location, for they can only move a certain distance from where they had died." Explained the red head shocking everyone.

"That is quite the ability, Naruto-kun." Commented Kakashi.

"I've had it since the night of my birth, it was sealed away with my bloodline though."

"Well you've finally arrived, and such a collection too, your funerals will be grand." Came a voice through the mist almost as soon as they reached the bridge.

"You're still as demented as ever Raiga." Said Kakashi in a bored tone.

As he said this five forms emerged from the mist, Zabuza, the demon brothers, Haku once more dressed as a hunter-nin, and finally the man known as Kurosaki Raiga.

"I'm impressed Naruto-kun you even foresaw the timeframe of our battle." Said Haku shocking everyone.

"Yes well my mother has a large garden, I picked up a few things as a result."

Before anyone else could say a word the two were clashing each having closed half the distance between them in the time it took Tazuna to blink. Steel grinded together as the two locked blades, Naruto's katana to Haku's. Pushing off each other they clashed again and again before finally pushing away from each other.

"As I thought we're even, kenjutsu can't determine our battle." Said Naruto sheathing his blade.

"You expected it." Said Haku a bit surprised.

"Of course. I seriously doubt a swordsman of Zabuza's caliber would have neglected to train you in his passion of kenjutsu." Answered Naruto evenly.

"That's quite the brat you've got there Kakashi, not many people can determine a battle after the first set of clashes." Said Zabuza obviously impressed.

"Such a thing is expected from the son of the Red Death." Said Kakashi causing both swordsmen to narrow their eyes.

"Why are you two still standing here?" questioned Raiga turning to the silent demon brothers. The duo said nothing merely charging past Haku and Naruto towards the other side of the bridge.

"Go for it Sasuke." Said Yamato causing the Uchiha to smirk as he charged to meet them his eyes bleeding crimson, two tomoe's spinning within them.

"Oh he managed to activate it." Said Kakashi surprised.

"The first day. The rest of the time was spent with him getting used to it." Answered Yamato.

As they neared each other Sasuke threw a handful of shuriken before turning that handful into twenty with a quick usage of the Shuriken Kage Bunshin technique. Eyes widening the duo released the chain binding them allowing for them to dodge. It had served its purpose though giving Sasuke enough time to close the distance on the one with the mask and slammed a fist into his throat the man falling unconscious a few moments later. At least that's what the man thought happened in truth he simply passed out after looking into the boys eyes.

"I didn't take him as a genjutsu type." Commented Kakashi.

"Not many do. Sasuke takes more after his mother than he does Fugaku though always has." Answered Yamato.

"So now that the boys are partnered up, shall we."

With that said the two jounin disappeared leaving Sakura and Tazuna gapping at how quickly they had covered the distance and appeared in front of Zabuza and Raiga.

* * *

Yamato panted as he hid within the trees of the forest near the bridge. He had surprised Raiga by using a Shunshin as soon as they made contact dragging the swordsman with him. He had chosen this spot specifically to keep the ex-kiri nin away from the water ridding him of that advantage and taking it for himself. Despite this however he still wasn't out of the woods yet, as Raiga was proving to be a very formidable opponent, one worthy of his rank as a member of Kiri's Seven Swordsmen.

"Stop hiding coward and face me."

Yamato scoffed at the man's words, stealth was part of a shinobi's job description and something he himself excelled at. Running through seals the leaf jounin silently mouthed the name of his technique the earth shaking slightly being Raiga's only warning before the ground burst apart, tree roots shooting out of the ground like spikes. Raiga however didn't even flinch as they neared him merely swinging his sword before him lightning arching off the blade and tearing through the roots like paper. Seeing this Yamato grit his teeth before drawing a tanto from a seal on his arm, as it seemed distance fighting wouldn't work.

* * *

As Sasuke and the remaining Demon Brother with the breather, he never learned his name, faced off the Uchiha found himself pushed to his limits even with his Sharingan. While not in Yamato's league the kiri nuke-nin was still proving himself more than Sasuke could handle his earlier defeat of his brother being won with surprise. In the end it was only thanks to his Sharingan's perceptiveness he was able to stay ahead of the man's attacks, if just barely.

As the nuke-nin charged him once more the Uchiha heir ran through seals quickly before taking a breath and blowing out a multitude of small fireballs. As the nuke-nin dodged around the fireballs Sasuke took the chance to charge and swung a fist at him. The nuke-nin had been expecting it however and leaned his head back to dodge the blow, unfortunately for him he forgot about the kunai the boy held and as such had his throat slit. As the red liquid splashed on him Sasuke froze and turned just in time to see the carcass drop before he followed not a second later his red eyes fading to black in his shock.

* * *

Naruto panted as he eyed the ice made mirrors surrounding him each of them showing an image of Haku. Senbon could be seen littering the ground all around him, though there were several tares within his clothes from them. Haku was also panting but would admit he was amazed by his opponent. With his Ice Mirrors activated Haku could travel through them with all the speed of a jounin yet Naruto had managed to avoid the worst of any injuries he'd tried to deal and even follow him with his eyes.

Still even in the situation the two found themselves in both had small smiles on their faces, though Haku's was hidden by his mask. It was said that you could learn everything about a person by fighting them, regardless of whether or not this sentiment was true both boys were happy having finally found a worthy opponent to test themselves against. Suddenly Haku attacked once more diving out of a mirror above the boy his senbon held ready to strike only for the redhead to disappear at the last second.

"**Bakudo - #1: Sai (Way of Binding - #1: Restrain)**"

The whispered words came to him half a second later as his arms snapped backwards and locked behind him. Suddenly Naruto appeared once more in front of him.

"How…" muttered Haku struggling to break his invisible shackles.

"Don't bother it's impossible for you to break my technique. As for how I avoided your attack, it was another technique of mine I call Shunpo (flash step), sort of my version of the Hiraishin no jutsu." Answered the redhead walking up and removing the mask from Haku's face, allowing him to see the boy's still wide eyes.

"That's how you were able to follow my movements." Said Haku in realization.

"No, you were moving too fast for my eyes to track. Instead I was following your energy signature, I merely kept my eyes open so it appeared my eyes were good enough to follow you."

"A clever ruse. It's a shame our paths crossed as they did we could have been great friends." Said Haku with a sad smile.

"We still can, fights over I won." Said Naruto as if it was obvious.

"Which is why you must strike me down. Zabuza-san has no use for a broken tool."

* * *

Kakashi blinked in shock as he found his arm embedded within the Zabuza's now unmasked partner. The battle between the two jounin had lasted all of twenty minutes a lifetime for battles of their level. In the end the Sharingan wielder had managed to capture Zabuza by use of his ninken and had been in the process of finishing him with his sole original jutsu the Raikiri when the boy had appeared in front of him taking the attack through the chest.

As the dogs dispelled due to Haku's senbon Zabuza took advantage of the situation and with a laugh swung his large blade aiming to cut through them both. Eyes widening Kakashi jumped back pulling Haku with him. Before Zabuza could charge however he was forced to drop his blades a pair of kunai piercing his arms as Naruto made his presence known. Before anything could be said or done however the sound of something tapping could be heard around the bridge, before the mist lifted to show the midget known as Gato backed by an army of thugs.

"Gato what is the meaning of this?" though poised as a question Zabuza was demanding an answer.

"Well I had a thought. You ninja, even nuke-nin are expensive and I had to hire another of you to get the job done when you failed. Then I realized I could take the price I offered you and give it to these guys behind me, and have you all killed when you were tired out and injured. Well what are you waiting for get them" Said Gato with a laugh his thugs charging forward at his demand.

Zabuza snarled hearing this before rushing forward somehow able to withdraw a kunai from one of his arms and place it into his mouth before his arm fell once more. While not a threat to him normally with his tired and injured state the thugs soon overcame the infamous 'Demon of the Mist' and Zabuza fell only a foot away from Gato. Seeing this Gato laughed before ordering the thugs to rush the two Konoha nin and even offering a bonus to the one who killed Tazuna.

Seeing them coming Naruto began to back petal only to stop after his first step as an arm placed itself on his shoulder.

"_Don't run._"

As the words came to him he stopped as he could hear his zanpakuto spirit speak to him, her voice filling him with strength.

"_Cast off your fear_." He straightened himself ignoring the calls to retreat from Kakashi.

"Look forward, go forward and never stand still." He leaned forward his body sliding into a batojutsu stance.

"Retreat and you will age." His eyes began to glow blue with power.

"Hesitate and you will die." A large pressure settled over the bridge forcing the mercenaries to halt.

"Now shout, my name is…"

"OKIRO, BENIHIME (Awaken, Crimson Princess)"

At his command his energy burst out from him surrounding him in red, black, and blue energies. Suddenly the black and blue energies merged turning to a darker blue shade as he drew his sword more energy exploding from it and cutting through the center of the mercenaries just barely missing Gato himself while Naruto was shrouded in smoke, when the smoke cleared however his sword had changed.

No longer was the sword in the shape of a katana. The blade itself was now straight and slim, though on the shorter side and instead of ending in a point at the tip it now had a slanted razor like edge. The blade itself was black with a silver edge, the black section being the longer side. There was no longer a guard, instead there is a red decorative string wrapped thrice around the hilt, with a three-loop bow on one side and a folded paper decoration on the other. A U-shaped decoration covered the first three or four inches of blade, with a flower petal design right as it meets the string-cross guard. Finally there was the hilt which was now a little on the longer side adding about two or three inches to it as it now bent at an angle, finished by a little crimson tassel dangling from the end.

"Nake, Benihime. (Sing)"

AN: That's it, chapter's done finally. I know you guys probably weren't expecting me to use Benihime, I was originally gonna use Senbonzakura but since I saw a few fics with it already I changed my mind. Anyway leave a review, and I'll see you next time. LATER.


	9. Chapter 9

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 9

AN: Hello all, it's been a while huh. Firstly thanks goes to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, reviews fuel my writing so thanks for that. Anyway it's time for something I haven't done in a while rant on the manga, this contains spoilers so be warned.

Once again Kishi, has shown his favoritism by giving Sasuke yet another power up. It's bad enough he had the little prick kill off Itachi, and Danzo so easily but the bastard has gone too far in giving the little bastard Itachi's eyes, which I saw coming a mile away. Now not only did this prevent his blindness but judging by the Uchiha's last words has given him a tremendous boost in power.

On the plus side Tsunade has at last awoken from her coma preventing Kakashi from becoming Hokage thank the Manga Gods. However his blatently stating Naruto will sacrifice himself against the Uchiha is pushing the boundaries of my patience. That said since Naruto's home Hinata better step up and help that boy get his priorities straight. We've already seen that the two share a strong bond even in the first part of the manga so it's time they develop it and that relationship damn it! With that said here's the new chapter.

Start Now:

Naruto snorted as he sorted through all of Gato's unguarded possessions, the man had been a fool to leave his home unprotected. Ok so the place wasn't totally unprotected there had been a handful of mercenaries left around to guard the place, they'd however proved easy pickings especially considering they were to busy indulging their libidos. After the events on the bridge he had turned to the bodies of his former enemies and had not been surprised to see their spiritual forms being drawn out of their physical bodies. He had volunteered to bury the bodies allowing for Kakashi to take Sakura and Sasuke back to Tazuna's home.

Once alone he had dismissed the pallbearers, which were little odd grey skinned ogre like beings which carried around scythes. The pallbearers are beings of the underworld and as such servants of the Shinigami. Thanks to the fact that the power of the Shinigami flowed through him he could dismiss them if he so chose but only so that he could send the departed on himself. In truth he had felt that it was still too soon for the two of them to be gone from the world, but as he did not possess Tenseiga there was little he could do but send them on their path personally as a last sign of respect.

It had been Haku's last act to gift him with all of his possessions an act which Zabuza followed opting not to let his things go to waste. The exception to this was Zabuza's sword which would serve as a memorial point for the two of them, he had however told him the location of Gato's base, most likely as revenge for the man's betrayal. Whatever the case may be Zabuza had demanded a fight with him when they met in the afterlife, saying he couldn't wait to test him when he'd reached his full potential.

After all was said between them Naruto had commenced the short ritual to send the former Kiri-nin on their way. Following this he'd followed Zabuza's wishes and after cutting off and sealing his bodies had burned their bodies using a kido spell he knew as he didn't know any Katon ninjutsu. Following this he'd sent a clone to Tazuna's to inform Kakashi that he needed some time to sort his thoughts. With all the killing he'd done that day Kakashi had granted his request though had warned him to be careful as apparently Raiga had managed to escape from Yamato during their battle.

In truth he'd been ignoring his actions on the bridge since committing them, even ignoring the screams of the mercenary spirits as the pallbearers had carried them off along to be judged. Instead he was trying to focus his mind on business, he'd save the breakdown he knew was coming for when he was safe in his mother's arms within the privacy of his soulscape. He'd worked damn hard to set his new image into peoples minds and he'd be damned if he let them see him breakdown.

Back to the matter at hand however Gato was a fool, honestly what kind of criminal actually kept a written record of their dealings and their partners. Now he found himself quite happy Gato hadn't been killed by his attacks, the fool having soiled himself and passed out when the first energy wave had just barely missed him. Unfortunately since the bastard was alive he'd have to stand trial and his assets would be seized and used as further evidence to support his log books. Because of this he had several clones all over the place searching everything from top to bottom, separating, categorizing and sealing everything for transport. He had of course had to free the females he held captive which had only furthered his rage with the man.

Just from his log books alone Gato could be seen as an international criminal one that the various Daimyou's would more than likely waste no time dismantling along with his associates and business partners. This was especially true for the Fire Daimyou as shinobi were recognized as agents of their Daimyou and for someone even a civilian to oppose them and try what Gato had would mean their life was forfeit. Just because the shinobi villages didn't get along didn't mean the royalty was the same, especially as they were all under the emperor's command anyway.

"Whoa boss check this out." Called one of the clones catching his attention.

Moving over to the clone his eyes widened as he found himself looking into a hidden safe the clone had somehow discovered. More importantly however was its contents, weapons could be seen hung all over some in glass cases while hitae-tae could be found discarded all over the place some scratched out and some not. However it was the contents of a particular glass casing that caught his attention the most causing him to narrow his eyes in anger.

Smashing the case with his fist the redhead stormed out after creating more clones and ordering them to seal everything within the vault. Once out of the vault he ordered the remaining clones to finish up and one to bring the scrolls to him once completed before storming out of the building, grabbing a single scroll on his way out while his other hand stayed clenched tightly around the three pronged kunai.

* * *

Back at Tazuna's home Kakashi sat deep in thought his mind still on the massacre, for it could be called nothing else; that had taken place on the bridge. Now Kakashi had seen many things in his time as a shinobi and was no stranger to massacre's having seen his fair of them as well. The fact was he had never once thought Naruto and massacre could be even spoken in the same sentence even after his personality change.

Nor had he ever seen a weapon like the one Naruto held in his possession. Once again he was no stranger to unique weapons having once possessed a very unique tanto himself which he inherited from his father. However never had he seen a weapon actually change form or send out waves of chakra. Even Nidaime-sama's Raijin had been unable to do such a thing. Yet Naruto's sword could and in two swings he'd cleared the bridge of the fifty mercenaries that had been left after Zabuza had torn through them in his enraged state.

Of course rumors of such weapons existed though they were all held in possession of demons which the elemental nations had a lack of, mostly because once they started sealing away the Bijuu the lower level ones fled. Whatever the case was such a weapon had to be rare, and as such terribly expensive yet Naruto who as far as he knew was still living off of the Hokage's allowance for him had possession of it.

His thoughts on the matter came to a screeching halt as the door to the room was slammed open and closed as the subject of his thoughts stormed in his face twisted in a scowl as he walked up to the tied up form of Gato and kicked him viciously bringing the man back to the waking world. Moving to restrain his obviously pissed student he reached out only to freeze as the boy pressed a kunai to the man's jugular vein, a three pronged kunai that he knew should be locked securely in the Hokage's vault.

"You have one chance to tell me truthfully how you got this, and who gave it to you or I swear to Kami you will not like the results."

As the words were snarled out, as it could only be a snarl, Kakashi could see the boy's green eyes flash a vicious crimson red for a moment that told Kakashi all he needed to know about Naruto's mental state at that moment. Honestly he wasn't surprised Naruto idolized the Yondaime, and was the only person in his generation to have ever seen one of the man's special kunai, and to find one of his kunai apparently in Gato's possession would have to set the boy off.

"Naruto." Called Kakashi causing the boy's head to snap in his direction.

"I'll take care of this, you go cool yourself off. As a student of the Yondaime I promise he will not get away with this." Said the masked jounin holding his hand out for the kunai.

For a moment Naruto seemed to be struggling with himself before handing over the kunai and casting one last glare at Gato backed with so much killing intent the fat little man soiled himself once more. Seeing this Naruto's lips curled up in disgust before he stalked out of the room. Once his student was gone the temperature in the room rose significantly as Kakashi focused his sight and his ire onto Gato who could only whimper in fear of the man.

* * *

Two days later found the group of team seven, Yamato, and their prisoner Gato entering the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village. The same day as Naruto's discovery of Gato's base and subsequently the Yondaime's kunai the bridge had been finished allowing the shinobi to leave Wave Country and the newly christened Great Naruto Bridge the next day. Almost immediately upon entrance they were greeted by a squad of ANBU who quickly took the tied up form of Gato from Yamato and disappeared.

Upon arriving at the Hokage Tower they were immediately let in to see the Hokage, who sat in his seat behind his desk while his two advisors stood behind him.

"Well Team Seven I would like to congratulate you on the completion of your mission which seems had been horribly mis-ranked. Because of this mistake you will all be paid for the completion of an A-ranked mission which will go on your records. Seeing as I've already received your mission report from Kakashi prior to your arrival you are dismissed, Naruto you stay." The two other gennin froze as they turned back towards the Hokage who correctly interpreted their looks.

"Regretfully Naruto-kun was forced to experience his first kill on this mission, I merely wish to speak with him about it. Do not worry he is in no trouble." Said the Sandaime causing the two to nod before leaving.

"So how are you feeling Naruto-kun?" asked Hizuren concern lacing his features.

"Honestly jiji, I have been trying not to think about it since the mission was still going and I kept myself busy. Thankfully after the first night I was better than before." Said Naruto his calm front transparent to the three elders before him only Sarutobi understanding the hidden message that was his last sentence.

'_I figured Kushina-chan would comfort you about this_.' Thought Hizuren sending a small smile that the boy returned before their faces shifted back to business.

"I take it this is why you were able to discover Gato's home." Said Hizuren.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Said the boy before removing a scroll from his pouch and placing it on the old mans desk getting raised eyebrows from everyone in the room.

"After discovering it was Gato's place I decided to seal everything up for you to look at and created clones to delegate certain task. The scroll is a master which contains several other scrolls each marked to show their contents which were then further categorized. It was while they were doing this one of the clones discovered a hidden vault which was found to be a weapons storage like a trophy room even containing hitae-tae from various villages, some slashed through some not, and a few from Konoha."

As the boy explained this the eyes of the elders narrowed in anger. It was ridiculous that someone like Gato could be operating right under their noses, killing off their shinobi, and they not know about it.

"Is there anything else you feel should be known?" asked Hizuren. Naruto sighed before removing two more scrolls and placing them on the old man's desk.

"One scroll contains Zabuza's head. The other is from his hide out. During the mission I had a clone tail Zabuza's apprentice in the hopes of it leading me to Gato. After my confrontation with Gato at Tazuna-san's home I found myself there and had no problem getting in as I already knew the positioning of the traps. It's mostly just damaged armor from Kiri but I figured if we could replicate it, infiltration may be easier.

His apprentice Haku also kept a journal which I think you should have a look at I think you'll find it an interesting read. The majority of Haku's clothing I kept however as people around here have begun to recognize me again so I figured I'd keep them just in case. Also while the clones were doing this I found the area in which Gato kept his prisoners. From what I found out Gato only kept female prisoners which he kept as pleasure slaves. When I arrived his remaining mercenaries had been too busy indulging themselves to stop me from killing them." Finished the boy calmly.

"Very well that is all for now Naruto-kun, I'll come by and speak with you soon." Said Sarutobi getting a nod and smile from the boy who quickly left the office at the dismissal.

"So Kakashi was the side mission successful?" asked Homura after a few moments.

"For Naruto and Sasuke yes. I now have an accurate measure of Naruto's skill level and mental state from what I can determine. Sasuke has also began to open up as well which I have to admit is Tenzo's doing. Sakura however I am unsure of still. During the battles she stayed away from the combat completely keeping herself close to Tazuna at all times and only put the minimum amount of effort into her training. Honestly if this didn't snap her out of her delusional world I am not sure what could outside of introducing her to Anko."

"What do you think of them Tenzo?" questioned Himura bringing the groups attention to the man.

"They've got potential I'll give them that much. Haruno is the wild card in the situation though I am still unsure of whether or not the Hyuga girl should have been on the team instead of her."

"Unfortunately that would have overpowered them, especially the way Naruto is now. Hyuga Hinata is strong, perhaps the strongest of her class however her hesitance is her problem. Even before Naruto's change his rate of growth was amazing. Placing the three of them together would have significantly weakened Kurenei's squad." Explained the Sandaime getting an understanding nod from the man.

* * *

For Sasuke the journey to the Uchiha district had been quick. He had learned long ago that the best way to travel and avoid his fangirls was by roof hopping. As he entered the boy was greeted by aunts, uncles, and cousins alike. This he was thankful for as even after the massacre that had claimed the lives of every Uchiha elite bar himself and his mother he still had a large family to support him as none of the civilians had been harmed.

Contrary to popular belief the Uchiha clan had not been made primarily of ninja, such a practice had been stopped after the village had been founded. Instead clan members now had the choice of living the civilian lifestyle and as such the Uchiha was one of the many clans in Konoha that could boast to having merchants, smiths, accountants and even doctors as members of their clan. Despite this it was only he alone that could pass on the Sharingan with 100 percent certainty as with each generation that it was not activated resulted in the less likely of a chance it had of being passed on and manifested in future clan members.

According to his mother this was why he had been placed under the CRA by the council, yet he was only allowed a maximum of two wives. Whatever the case that didn't concern him at the moment, instead his focus on getting stronger so that when the time comes he would be able to avenge all those who'd fallen that night.

When he made it to his home the smell of cooking food quickly caught his attention causing his stomach to rumble as it reminded him he hadn't eaten yet. Entering the kitchen he was greeted to the smiling face of his mother, something that allowed him to release a small smile of his own. While he wouldn't admit it out loud he knew his mother was happier now than she had been when his father was living anyone could tell as she smiled a lot more than she had before the massacre.

Mikoto had not made it out of that night unscarred though. Despite her usual cheerful demeanor the clan knew that her uterus had been run through by a katana and as such her ability to have children had been taken from her. Despite this she never said a negative thing about her eldest son, not even when she had first awoken in that hospital room had she had a negative comment. She did however have plenty negative comments about the elder council and she had no problem sharing her opinion about them with others. Shaking himself from his thoughts the boy greeted his mother and sat down awaiting the food, though he mentally made a note to speak with her about a certain picture in the possession of his teammate.

* * *

When Naruto returned home, after a brief stop at Ichiraku's for breakfast, he was surprised to find Inuzuka Tsume sitting upon his couch while Ino poured the woman a cup of tea. Beside the woman rested her k-9 partner that looked half wolf, Kuromaru if he remembered correctly. Sending a quick glance at Ino he received a slight shake of the head indicating she didn't know what was going on.

"Hello gaki, how was your mission?"

"It went well Tsume-sama, it is a pleasure to see you again." Said Naruto sitting across from the woman.

"No need for formalities this is a friendly visit." Said the Inuzuka head.

"How'd you find this place?" asked the red head calmly.

"I've known you were here for a while. I'll admit sending the Kage Bunshin to the apartment every night was a good idea but it won't fool a trained Inuzuka. I'm one of the few who know about this place and who you really are from the beginning so it was a simple guess this is where you'd be living. Besides your father asked that I see to your protection." Explained Tsume.

"I see." Said Naruto calmly.

"Anyway I merely stopped by to let you know the Chuunin Exams will be held here in two months, your team is already guaranteed entrance. Train hard I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do."

As she finished the Inuzuka head stood to her feet an action which Naruto mimicked only to be surprised as the woman pulled him into a hug. Laughing at his shocked look Tsume broke the embrace and left the boys home Kuromaru right beside her.

"Ino-chan is the bath ready?" asked the redhead after a moment.

"Hai Naruto-sama. I sent a clone to prepare it while I prepared the tea."

Hearing this Naruto sent a small smile towards the girl in appreciation. Ino had come far in her training with his mother and had been rewarded by receiving the Mizu Bunshin technique the first ninjutsu she'd received in all the time she'd been working for him. Her taijutsu and chakra abilities had been his mothers focus and the girl had come far in the time she had. On the other hand her other training had been going just as well according to his mother.

"Very well, go home and get some cloths for tomorrow you're staying here tonight."

Ino only nodded her understanding before bowing and leaving her masters presence to do as ordered. Before her training she'd have at least asked a few questions but she'd since learned to just do as told. It wouldn't be the first time she'd stayed at the estate over night. The first time she'd wondered when he would take her virginity until the point she had simply fallen asleep. Since that initial night she had stopped worrying about it, he would only take her when he was ready and not a moment sooner.

Five minutes later found Naruto relaxing within the bath having been forced to reheat it with a quick fire jutsu, the same one the Academy had taught the students to start campfires. The E-rank technique while not good for battle still had its usage. He made a mental note to wake his mother in the morning in order to prepare both himself and Ino for the upcoming Chuunin Exam. He knew if he didn't wake her she'd sleep until the thing was over, hell she'd slept three years straight before he found out about her. Sighing in contentment the teen took the moment to reflect on his previous mission, his body sinking deeper into the water until he was in up to his chin.

AN: That's it chapter's done. I was originally going to make it longer but I just felt this was a good place to end it. Anyway I'm on my way to work, where like old times I'll start up the next chapter. So with that said thanks for reading and leave me a review. Till next time people, LATER.


	10. Chapter 10

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 10: The Chuunin Exam

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, Bleach, Inuyasha, or anything else my deranged mind may through in here, unless I actually think it up then I'll tell you.

Start Now:

The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hizuren eyed the various jounin and chuunin assembled within his office. Taking a hit from his pipe the old man waited calmly for the stragglers before beginning the meeting. As he exhaled the doors to his office opened permitting the final few before closing once more. Withdrawing his chakra from the seal on his pipe to extinguish it the old man set it aside before addressing his troops.

"Now that everyone's here I shall begin. I shouldn't have to say this but I will for those of you who are unaware. The Chuunin Exams are being held here beginning this Friday I am now accepting nominations. I will start with the jounin instructors of our newest crop." Said Sarutobi motioning for the mentioned jounin who stepped forward.

"I, Hatake Kakashi, do hereby nominate my squad consisting of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke." Started the masked jounin before stepping back

"I, Yuhi Kurenai, do hereby nominate my squad consisting of Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino." Stated Kurenai before stepping back.

"I, Sarutobi Asuma, do hereby nominate my squad consisting of Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Choji." Said the bearded jounin before stepping back.

* * *

Naruto eyed the path of destruction ahead of him with apathetic eyes. For the past two months his training had taken on a dramatic increase under the guidance of his mother and Benihime. Much like Naruto the training area had been put through the gauntlet the last few months and as it was it was only the seals designed by his father that allowed the place to be ready for use the next day, though they to had been put to the test.

In the past two months, his taijutsu, ninjutsu, kenjutsu and kido skills had all seen dramatic improvements. His chakra and reiatsu control had both been boosted as well. In the end even his legendary stamina had seen its limit and been surpassed. Of course he wasn't the only one whose training had increased as Ino's had as well. if the slave girl had thought her inititial training had been tough and draining this had completely ruined that image and the girl had been vocal about wishing for demonic stamina.

Still the girl had shown a marked increase as well, taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu and even a bit of Ijutsu had been thrown in. though he hadn't seen her train Kushina had stated that she now had the skills to back up her top kunoichi title. At the moment the blonde stood of behind her master her eyes wide in awe at the power of his newly master technique. As they had been given the last two days off to rest Ino was not in training gear, though Naruto was.

The blonde instead wore a modified maids outfit. Whereas most she'd seen were made to cover all but the neck and hands hers was different. The outfit consisted of a short sleeved black shirt with a white center and white laced sleeves that stopped just under her breast with a V-necked collar that stopped just short of the valley between her breasts with a small black bow tied dead center. Her skirt was also black and stopped at about her mid thigh with white lace dangling from the ends. The skirt however had no front section only covering her sides and behind while a white apron was tied around her waist covering her center. While her hair was in its signature ponytail a collar could be seen around her neck and tattooed on the small of her back her new slave seal could be seen in the shape of her masters signature spiral crest.

The marking was barely a month old and would serve as a reminder to the girl to not forget that she was his. Kushina had applied it on the girl as part of a punishment for the girl stepping out of her place. This had occurred after Ino had forgotten her promises for but an instant due to her pride and had been caught making out with some boy who had apparently insinuated she would be a bad lover. The boy had been a civilian in his mid teens and had obviously wanted to brag to his friends about sleeping with a kunoichi when one of Naruto's clones had stumbled upon the scene of Ino straddling the boy who was in the process of removing her skirt.

If that hadn't been embarrassing enough for the girl once she started thinking rationally again, then the spanking she got when he got her back home had mortified her. Her father had never spanked her for anything, always treating her as a princess. Naruto had stripped her nude and spanked her for nearly fifteen minutes making her count each swat. By the time he was finished both her ass cheeks had been bright red but she'd been more aroused than she thought possible.

"Ready?"

The simple word had its intended effect as a determined look crossed Ino's features. She held no illusions about passing and being promoted to chuunin. Instead they were using the exam to measure her growth over the past few months in a live situation. Naruto however had told her that he felt she could make it through the entire thing, even if she wasn't promoted. Whatever the case though he just wanted her to make it as far as she could without quitting.

"Hai, Naruto-sama." Answered the girl

"The exam starts tomorrow, I'll see you then."

"Hai."

Taking the dismissal for what it was the girl turned to make her way into the house to change. Regardless of the state of their relationship or lack thereof, she'd learned the hard way her body was for Naruto's use only and if she wasn't looking in a mirror the only person to see it would be him.

Once the blonde was gone Naruto sighed as his body slumped and he allowed himself to release the breath he'd been holding.

"Mother did you have to pick that outfit?" questioned the boy to the air as he knew his mother was out at the moment.

"_What's the matter love, having a little trouble." _Whispered a voice seductively as Benihime made her appearance behind him running a finger under his chin_._

"_Perhaps you should stop holding yourself back. The girl is yours after all, you can do whatever you want with her." _Continued Benihime stroking along his chest.

"Just because I own her doesn't mean I will force myself upon her." Said Naruto his eyes looked onto hers.

"_That's why I love you. Such a noble soul waiting for her to give herself to you. What about the Uchiha woman, you know you can accept her offer. I'm sure she can teach you a few things to use with Ino-chan_."

"Not more than you though."

"_No one knows you like I do. No woman will ever be able to satisfy you completely like I could. Of course you have to earn that and until you do…"_

As the spiritual woman faded from his view Naruto already knew what her ending would be. Until he could completely master his zanpakuto, the connection between himself and the spirit would be incomplete. While she could now materialize herself in the real world only he knew as only he could see her and time would seemingly slow to a crawl. Upon obtaining that level however that would change.

* * *

Thirty minutes later and the red head gennin was making his way through the village for a team meeting. Kakashi had scheduled it for nine, meaning he wouldn't be there until noon. A commotion ahead drew his attention and had his eyes narrowing at the sight before him. Hanging suspended from the ground by his scarf was Sarutobi Konohamaru struggling in the grip of a suna-nin in a black cat suit. Another this time a blonde kunoichi stood leaning against the wall just behind them, while Udon and Moegi, Konohamaru's friends stood behind Sakura who was trying and failing to end the situation.

As the cat suit wearing Suna nin went to strike the Sandaime's grandson he found his fist caught and held in a vice grip as a pair of slitted green eyes stared him down. In his shock the suna-nin dropped the kid who quickly hid behind the red head.

"This will be your only warning. This isn't Suna, sand brat you are guest here, however threatening the safety of the Hokage's grandson is a sure fire way to get yourself and your village into some trouble. Judging by the aura of your friend in the tree over there you're already in some trouble, but that's nothing compared to what I will do if you come near my ototo again." Said the red head his eyes flashing red for just a moment as a fierce killing intent flooded the area.

"Kankuro you are an embarrassment to our village."

At the voice at the cat suit wearing sand ninja froze in fear as true to Naruto's word another sand ninja was standing upside down on a tree branch glaring murder at him, his short hair a match for Naruto's in color.

"G-gaara, it wasn't my fault I swear they…"

"Shut up, or I'll kill you." Said the red head causing the other teen to shudder in fear.

Suddenly the boy disappeared in a whirl of sand before materializing in the middle of the group to stand face to face, and eye to eye with Naruto. As the two red headed teens eyed each other the tension in the area grew thick as green eyes met blue. Finally the stare down was broken as the suna gennin stepped back away from the leaf-nin turning to face his own squad who quickly fell in step at a wordless command as they began to leave the area.

"Kankuro, stay away from the him, he is mine." Spoke the lead suna-nin after a moment getting a shaky nod from the other suna-nin.

Naruto smirked, his demonically enhanced hearing allowing him to pick up on the words of the other red head. Wiping the smirk from his face he turned to face his teammate who nearly shrunk back at the look in his usually apathetic eyes that now demanded an explanation.

* * *

"Hey did you hear."

At the voice two sets of eyes jerked in the speakers direction as a brown haired girl landed within the training ground.

"Apparently there are rookies entering the exams this year."

* * *

By the time Naruto and Sakura made it to the meeting point Uchiha Sasuke was mildly annoyed to put it lightly. Of course they had all grown used to Kakashi's blatant lateness over the past few months, he had even grown used to Naruto not showing up until thirty minutes before Kakashi would arrive. However the fact that it was nearing one o'clock and the two were just arriving only was icing to the fact that Kakashi was an hour later than usual. Honestly if he'd known this would happen he wouldn't have wasted his time sitting around doing nothing when he could be training.

His thoughts on the matter were put off as Kakashi arrived in a puff of smoke barely three minutes after his teammates arrived. Kakashi blinked when his arrival brought no irate response from the usually vocal pink haired kunoichi of his team. Glancing towards her he spotted a sullen look upon her features the cause of which he made a mental note to find out.

"Alright I've got some good news for the three of you. I've just nominated you all for the Chuunin Selection Exams that begin on tomorrow. Of course as you guys are still rookies I don't really expect you to pass the exams. However if you decide to take it I will be using it as a test to determine how much you have all grown since Nami no Kuni. Each of you decide for yourselves whether or not you will take the exams and if so report to room 301 within the academy tomorrow by 0800. That is all dismissed."

His message given Kakashi disappeared in a whirl of leaves leaving the three gennin to their own devices. Not long later the meeting site was empty as Sasuke made his return to the Uchiha sector, and Naruto and Sakura each returned to their homes.

* * *

The next morning found the members of team seven standing within room 301 of the packed academy. Following Naruto's lead, as had become the usual since he was appointed team leader, they had scaled the exterior wall up to the third floor to enter in from a hallway window around the corner from the exam room. Of course because of this they had unknowingly bypassed the preliminary exam of the test which weeded out the weaklings subsequently they had also avoided what would have been a mind numbing experience in meeting a few of the members of team Gai. As it was the trio was standing within a corner of the room allowing them to view everything around them while not exposing their backs.

"WAHOO FOUND YOU."

Naruto winced as his sensitive hearing was bombarded by the noise of Inuzuka Kiba's arrival. As Kiba and Sasuke took the moment to trade barbs Naruto nodded slightly towards the more sedate members of team eight earning a nod and blush from Shino and Hinata respectively.

"So you guys are in this troublesome thing too."

Turning towards the bored sounding voice he was not surprised to find the members of team ten approaching being led by Nara Shikamaru who was slouching even while walking, something perfected by the Nara males long ago.

"Hello Sakura." Said Ino politely shocking the group none so more than the girl addressed.

"Ino are you ok?" asked Sakura worriedly approaching her former best friend.

As the group of rookies congregated amongst themselves several pairs of eyes watched them intently and those the most observant noticed that a single pair of eyes never strayed from the room despite the ring of people surrounding said individual.

"Hey quite down, this isn't a picnic." Said a new voice catching the attention of the group of leaf nin.

Turning towards the new arrival they found themselves looking upon a glasses wearing silver haired teen of maybe sixteen years old. His outfit was composed of blue pants and a sleeveless blue shirt overtopping a short sleeved grey one. He wore a pair of fingerless blue gloves with sleeves that reached to about the midpoint of his forearms and a beige sash was wrapped around his waist while his Konoha hitae-tae sat upon his forehead.

"You guys are obviously the rookies everybody's been talking about."

"Yeah well who the hell are you."

'_There's that fiery temper of hers_' thought Naruto idly as he watched Ino stride forward.

"The names Kabuto, more importantly do yourself a favor and take a look around."

Doing so several of the young leaf nin paled upon seeing the murderous looks sent their way from all corners of the room. Naruto however yawned, a bit loudly, telling Ino exactly how he felt about what he saw causing her to stand firmer.

"Everyone here is on a tight leash right now. These exams aren't games you know these guys are the best of the best." As he said this he whipped out a trio of cards before placing them on the ground.

"For instance that red head in the left corner, is Sabaku no Gaara. He's the youngest son of the Kazekage while his siblings are his teammates. As you can see from his mission stats the kids a tough one returning from all of his missions without a scratch.

"Impressive there are nothing but C and even a few B-ranks on here." Said Shino in his usual emotionless tone.

"It gets better." Said Kabuto motioning to another card for which another picture quickly showed up.

"Last years top rookie is also in attendance. His name is Hyuga Neji, some say he is the greatest prodigy his clan has seen in the last century and the strongest gennin Konoha has to offer. Now this here is the killer." As he said this he set Neji's card aside and motioned to the last which showed a black haired kid upon it.

"This is Ankoku Karasu of Iwakagure. As you should know the great five usually only send gennin to allied or neutral villages for obvious reasons. The fact that Iwa sent his team here despite our relationship or lack thereof should tell you more than enough. Incase it doesn't then I'll tell you this guy's supposed to the strongest gennin to ever grace Iwa's presence, his teammate's aren't slouchest either.

Suna, Konoha, Iwa, Ame, Kusa and several others have sent people to compete and like the mentioned three these guys are the best their villages have to offer." Finished Kabuto

"Why are you being so helpful?" questioned Naruto breaking the silence of the group.

"Logically speaking for you to know this much means you've taken part more than once. This means you should be looking for any advantage you could get, yet you come over here seemingly to help us out, why." Asked the red head

"That's easy. You guys reminded me of myself from a while back." Said Kabuto with a smile.

Before anything else could be said however a large cloud of smoke covered the room to show a large group which was obviously comprised of the exam proctors.

"All of you shut up. The names Morino Ibiki your proctor for the first exam. Welcome to hell."

AN: Well that's it chapter's done. It's shorter than I originally intended but I thought I'd made you guys wait for too long. Anyway I don't have much to say right now so just leave me a review. Till next time guys and girls LATER.


	11. Chapter 11

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 11: Written Exams and The Death Forest

An: Hello all I'm finally back with a new chapter for this story. Now like always I have to first thank those who reviewed the last chapter. Now I also want to take this time to announce to those who don't know about my new fic, Ninja Spawn that I urge everyone to check out and review. I also wish to inform everyone that Legend of the Fox is up for adoption as well. That said all of my news is done so here's the chapter.

Start Now:

Naruto wanted to laugh. Honestly as he looked at the bear faced proctor he could hardly hold back the urge. Hell, just the thought that a human of all things could even think they knew what hell was like was a laughable concept. Naruto had lived in the closest thing resembling hell for over a decade and he was sure that if the Leaf had any say about it he'd still be living it.

Regardless of this he still moved to grab a number after the man had given out his instructions. Upon finding his seat he was surprised to find himself sitting next to Hinata, the Hyuga heiress releasing a strong lemony scent as soon as he sat down. Shrugging it off he took a moment to look around and found that all of the people he knew were scattered about in such a way that none of them was sitting anywhere near a teammate or the same row as someone from their class except him and Hinata.

"Alright now for the first test of this Chuunin Exam, the written test." Said Ibiki causing several of those gathered to blanch.

"Now firstly there are no questions to be asked any questions?" said the man causing one person to raise their hand.

"Okay the idiot from Hoshi fails; you can take your team with you." Said Ibiki causing the teen to pale upon realizing his error.

"Now that the idiot is gone let's get started. This test will consist of ten question and is passed by a point scale. Each of you begins this test with ten points this test however is based on total points so giving each team has three members you start with thirty points. You will lose a point if you are caught cheating, and if you are caught five times you'll fail along with your teams. You wish to pass this test; then do so proudly as a shinobi."

As the man finished the gathered gennin moved to turn over their papers to begin. Almost immediately upon seeing the paper Naruto raised an eyebrow in surprise. Skipping over the first question which he knew he couldn't answer he moved to the next, and then the next. As he moved to the last of the questions his eyebrow twitched in irritation as he couldn't answer a single one. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted one of the chuunin off to the side smirking as if mocking him causing his eyes to narrow.

Still with his still relatively newly realized intellect it didn't take him long to figure out the purpose of this test. The problem was he had no idea how he would go about passing himself, he had no ocular abilities that would help him in this situation. Sighing he decided on a course his more brash self would have employed if he could figure things out to that point and sat back with his hands behind his head.

In the front of the room Ibiki couldn't help but focus on the boy who seemed to be the only one not doing something. All around him everyone else was working furiously he saw a couple activated Byakugan's, the Uchiha brat had his Sharingan active, he could even see a couple of mirrors cleverly arranged on the ceiling being manipulated. He could see Inoichi's daughter slumped over no doubt using her clan technique, while he could see the Akimichi heir writing with his eyes wide obviously helped by the Nara on the other side. The Inuzuka had his pup feeding him the answers and he had no doubt the Aburame had some of his bugs scattered about the room.

Only two of the gennin seemed to be working with no assistance, the Haruno brat, and one of the Iwa gennin. Before he could contemplate more however the redhead he'd been watching turned and tapping the shoulder to his left punched the guy dead in the face as soon as he turned to him causing the male to drop in an instant. Smirking the redhead switched their papers and wrote his name in place of its former holder.

"Uzumaki what the hell do you think your doing!" exclaimed Ibiki bringing the attention of the whole room to the two.

"Completing the test. You only said we had to have the answers before time ran out, you never stated I couldn't knock out the guy next to me and steal his paper. While I know you'll deduct a point for cheating I'm not really worried as I have four points to spare."

At this Ibiki couldn't help but grit his teeth at the flaw. Usually he waited and let the tension build up until people got ready to fight before arriving and saying there would not be any fighting. This time he had apparently jumped the gun and as such never said it so the boy was technically in the right.

"Very well, since you seemed to have found the loophole. Anyone else who tries that however will automatically fail. 89 and 27 grab your teammate and get the hell out since he was stupid enough to get himself knocked out. " Growled the man.

* * *

Nearly an hour later and the gathered gennin could be found in front of the gates to training area 44. Only eighty four people had passed the first test, meaning only twenty eight teams remained. As Naruto had suspected the purpose behind the first exam had been a test of information gathering skills, while the tenth question had been a do or die situation in which you could opt out and quit or take the question and risk failing and forever remain a gennin. The second proctor Mitarashi Anko had been less than impressed with the number of gennin left and had even gone so far as to say Ibiki was loosing his touch to which she promised to cut the numbers in half.

"Alright everyone behind me is what is known as area 44 lovingly known by us as 'The forest of death'." Said Anko breaking Naruto from his train of thought and holding up two scrolls for all to see.

"The goal of the second exam is these scrolls. Each team will be given one scroll and be tasked with obtaining the other before making it to the tower in the center of the forest within five days. Basically this is a free for all scroll battle and as such only half of the teams can pass. There is two rules at no time within the next five days can you leave the forest or you fail. Also all three team members must make it to the tower alive or you will fail.

Not only that but you will also have to worry about the animals in the forest which can and will kill and eat you, which is why I had all of you sign those waivers upon arriving thus freeing me of any responsibility in the event of your deaths. That said in order to continue any further you guys will have to turn in those waivers one team at a time in exchange for a scroll, if you don't you of course fail and will be known as a coward for the rest of your career. You have fifteen minutes." Finished Anko with a grin before turning and walking away.

'_Sounds like fun_.' Commented Benihime with a chuckle.

Naruto sighed ever since the incident on the bridge Benihime had been a lot more blood thirsty. Kushina had theorized that it was his own latent bloodlust that was the cause. He would admit if only to himself that he had felt a bit vindictive and not just due to what he'd seen in Nami either it was like it was an opportunity to slay the humans that had tormented him in the past. Shaking the thought off the red head spared a glance at his two teammates before moving off to trade the forms for a scroll.

After the exchange they were given the gate number they were to report to where a chuunin would be waiting. Naruto had been stopped along the way and told the other two to go ahead while he spoke to Hinata. In all honesty he was a bit surprised that the shy girl had actually sought him out to congratulate him on passing the first exam albeit with a lot of stuttering. Regardless he returned her sentiments and informed her he looked forward to seeing her after the end of the second test.

She had blushed a nice pink, bordering red color that had actually made him smile. He had by this point realized that the young Hyuga girl held a sweet spot for him. Well actually Ino had pointed it out after he told her that he thought the girl was terrified of him. Regardless Hinata was still the main reason he was withholding his judgment on the human race as a whole, after all if someone as nice as her could be human then there had to be others right.

His mother had commended him on his logic and had explained that because humanity as a whole was still a young race that they tended to act like children at times. This meant that when faced with something they couldn't immediately comprehend they reacted with fear of it. Anyway after his short talk with Hinata he had taken the chance to speak with Ino. Their meeting had been short but longer than his with Hinata's as he'd instructed the girl to be careful and that if they ran into each other in the forest they would help each other out. He had also told her to stay away from the Iwa team and the team from Suna that held Gaara before they went their separate ways.

* * *

Nara Shikamaru frowned as he looked up at the clouds from his position lying before his team's starting gate. Despite his laid back appearance however his mind was running a mile a minute. He had noticed that his teammate seemed to be changing almost constantly over the last few months. He had noticed that all of her fangirl tendencies had halted quite a while back, while he and Choji lazed about during team meetings she was actually putting in work and training, she was even eating a normal amount of food when they went out to eat.

On top of this she hadn't even mentioned the Uchiha in that time, nor did she jump him when they spotted his team before the first exam when the three rookie teams had gathered. Ino herself was busy pacing the length of the cage before the interior of the forest. A few months ago Shikamaru would have brushed it off as her being her usual impatient self, now he recognized it as actual worry.

In truth he was also worried, with the type of situation they were in now he couldn't help but be worried. Unlike the first exam this second one would not be a pleasant experience as none of them were combat types. While Choji could be called a heavy hitter or a tank both he and Ino were primarily non combatants he was a capture type and a strategist while Ino was an interrogator if for no other reason than her clan techniques. It didn't help that he and Ino each only knew one family technique and Choji only knew two.

This meant that they had to be picky when it came to choosing their targets, as they'd have to find a team that looked weaker than them. Their best bet would be to head directly for the tower and set up traps as that is where everyone would be heading anyway. Sighing at that the lazy genius could only hope they didn't run into any trouble before that point.

* * *

Naruto could barely hold back the smirk as the first bloodcurdling scream echoed through the forest. Sakura and Sasuke however froze and paled as the sound reached their ears while shivers wracked the girls body. It had barely taken ten minutes after they were let in and already someone had died. It didn't bother him as much though he could sense the youki that covered the forest belonging to the minor demons that called the place home even from outside the fenced off area.

"Sasuke, I'll catch up to you two in a few minutes I have to take a piss." Said the redhead suddenly bringing the attention of both his teammates to himself.

With that said the redhead turned and walked off into the trees. Sasuke snorted and merely motioned for Sakura to follow as he continued walking though at a slower pace than before. After a few moments the redhead stopped and remained in his position for at least a minute before suddenly lashing his right arm out and behind him a trio of what looked to be thorned vines shooting out from his sleeve and wrapping around the outstretched leg of the Ame nin that had taken the opportunity to try jumping him.

The Ame nin only had enough time for his eyes to widen in surprise before Naruto whipped his hand forward the results of which was the Ame nin being sent flying into the trunk of a tree with such force that he made an indent before falling to the ground. Almost immediately the vines released the downed nin and retracted back into the redhead's sleeve. Walking over to the unconscious gennin Naruto checked him over and smirked upon finding a heaven scroll within the gennin's pouch, the one in which his team needed to pass.

Removing the earth scroll from his pouch he made quick work of sealing the two scrolls in a storage seal upon the underside of his left arm. That done he stuffed his hands within his pants pockets and walked off not sparing the Ame nin another glance. It didn't take him long to catch up with his two teammates and it only took a bit of talking to redirect them into locating the tower in the center.

They had only been leaping through the trees for a maybe ten minutes before Naruto's eyes widened and he whipped around just in time to be hit full force and blown away by the power of an obvious wind jutsu.

* * *

At the same time the trio that made up team eight were in a mad sprint through the forest towards the tower. They had been lucky enough to gain there scroll off the first team they came across which was made up by a group of Taki nin who had surrendered their scroll after being informed that their trap was right beneath a nest of the forest leaches, each of them about the size of a human baby.

The trio of gennin however quickly came to a halt as they stumbled upon the sight of a trio of Suna gennin facing off with a team of Ame nin. The three rookie gennin could only look on in horror as the team of Ame nin were destroyed by the redheaded Suna gennin who had managed to crush them in sand of all things as they were suspended in the air. Hinata's body shook in fright at the sight as she sat back against a tree her horrified eyes not even registering that her usually brash Inuzuka teammate was doing the same as was her usually stoic Aburame teammate. Regardless of this however with a single look shared between them all three agreed they would not be moving for some time, until the three were gone from all three of their enhanced senses.

* * *

Naruto grunted as he picked himself up after his rather harsh meeting with the ground. He had flown for quite sometime slamming through several branches on his descent to the ground thanks to the power behind that wind jutsu. As he stood to his feet and dusted himself off he sighed before he vanished just in time to avoid the massive jaws that had nearly snapped themselves shut around him.

Reappearing within the branches of a nearby tree his green eyes narrowed as they spied the massive snake before him that was eyeing him as if he was its meal. Drawing Benihime he calmly eyed the beast as it reared its head back preparing for another lunge.

"**Okiro, Benihime**." Muttered the redhead.

Almost immediately the zanpakuto glowed and went about its transformation and he could almost feel her bloodlust as Benihime revealed herself once more. As soon as the transformation finished the massive snake lunged once more its mouth wide open in preparation for its next meal.

"**Nake, Benihime**."

With a horizontal swing of the blade a wave of crimson red energy shot forth from the blade and raced towards the snake. As they met the wave of energy sliced clean through the snake splitting it in half with no problem whatsoever. As the snake hit the ground Naruto watched as its red blood stained the forest floor for but a moment before vanishing in a quick shunpo, if he'd waited just a few seconds longer however he'd have seen the remains burst into smoke.

* * *

Sasuke panted his eyes wide as he stared at the figure before him with the frightened orbs. After the initial blast of wind that had scattered his team it hadn't taken long for him to recover; and took even less time to find his female teammate. However no sooner had the two verified each other than they were forced to fend off an attacker disguised as Naruto.

It had been easy to tell it was a fake, for one he lacked the calculating green eyes they had come to know and end their place were blue orbs. On top of that he spoke far too much and did so without the thinly veiled insults the real one spoke to Sasuke with, and even went so far as to refer to the Uchiha for a decision, Naruto had never done that especially after the mission in Nami no Kuni.

Whatever the case he had thought it would be simple to drive off the imposter. However it was anything but simple to do so, the imposter which had revealed themselves to be a kunoichi from Kusa was anything but a pushover. He had thrown all his tricks out from his newly learned Katon techniques and the few genjutsu his mother had taught him since his return. He hadn't felt this weak since his spars with Yamato in Nami as well and he inwardly cursed at not having the scroll to barter with.

"Kukuku very good Sasuke-kun, very good indeed."

Sasuke shivered at the voice as it slid through his ears like an eel across skin that and the hungry gaze directed at him made him feel dirty on a level that not even his fan girls had invoked from him. Not only that but the disturbing things he'd seen the kunoichi do like curling her tongue around her scroll as swallowing it and even how she was currently coiled around the branch of the tree across from like a snake spoke volumes.

As the kunoichi sprung forward Sasuke readied himself to jump away again only for a trio of shuriken to land just before the kunoichi only barely missing her head. Turning in the direction they'd come from all three in the clearing found the leader of team seven standing upon a higher glance looking down upon them with that calculating gaze.

"Naruto you're alive!" exclaimed Sakura in relief upon seeing him.

"Naruto, give her the scroll. She's out of our league." Said Sasuke not even turning to face him.

"Kukuku, that's right Sasuke-kun, it's only natural for prey to find an escape when faced with a predator." Said the Kusa kunoichi in amusement.

"Foolish." Remarked the red head shocking all three of them.

"Truly Uchiha you are more foolish and cowardly than I thought. If what you say is true and that person is so far above you than it should be obvious they are not a gennin and thus the scroll would not dissuade them from going after what it is they truly seek." Said Naruto calmly.

The reactions of the three at his words varied but he noted each of them. The Uchiha's eyes widened in realization as did Sakura's while their foe merely chuckled in amusement.

"Kuku you are quite right Naruto-kun, even with the scroll given over it is not a guarantee of my departure. At the same time what is to stop me from killing you and taking the scroll anyway."

Naruto scoffed at the words an action which all three took note of as his eyes moved and focused on that of the Kusa nin. Suddenly the Kusa nin blurred through seals before a massive snake appeared beneath them which quickly launched itself at the redhead. Suddenly the redhead disappeared just as the snake would have collided with him leaving it to only hit the branch. Appearing on top of the beast upper jaw his green eyes were dispassionate as he simply pointed to fingers between its eyes.

"**Hado #4: Byakurai (Way of Destruction #4: Pale Lightning)**."

For but a moment Naruto's fingers glowed with a blue light before an extremely large stream of lightning exploded forth piercing the beast directly through the eyes and traveling all the way along its body before the boy released the surge. All was silent for a moment as the other three beheld the sight in shock before the body disappeared in a massive cloud of smoke blinding everyone. Finally as the smoke lifted the Kusa nin scowled upon finding the other three gone with no clue as to a direction.

For Sakura the world was a blur as she was carried through the forest at speeds far surpassing what she had thought possible. She had no warning before she had found herself lifted up almost as soon as the cloud of smoke had appeared. Beside her she could just barely make out the form of Sasuke as another Naruto carried him around like a burlap sack in contrast to her bridal carry. For what seemed like an eternity but could easily have only been a few minutes there was only silence as she watched the world go by at least before she closed her eyes to prevent the nausea she felt rising. Finally the high speed ride came to a stop and she found herself placed on the ground.

Emerald green eyes widened in surprise upon their owner finding they were no longer within the forest but within a small room which a pair of jet black eyes discovered as well, at least after their owner picked himself off the ground after being unceremoniously dropped, a moment later. As one the two turned to Naruto to find the redheaded gennin panting heavily for the first time they'd seen since his change as he sat on the ground with his back to a wall.

"What the hell was that?" demanded the Uchiha after a few moments causing said redheads green eyes to narrow on him.

At the same time a slight pressure settled upon the shoulders of the two of them. Each of them vividly remembered the feeling from the night Naruto blew up at Inari in Nami no Kuni though the pressure was nowhere near as strong as it was then.

"Firstly Uchiha you do not demand answers from me."

Sasuke grit his teeth at the redheads statement but said nothing to rebuke him vividly reminded of the multiple spars that the two had shared and how easily the redhead could destroy him during them. Though he had grown stronger in that time so had Naruto and the Uchiha wouldn't risk it yet. Seeing his point had been made the redhead allowed the slight pressure he was exuding to dissipate allowing the other two to straighten.

"Now to answer your question, the technique was one of my own creation something I had been working on even during the academy which I call Shunpo. Now before any ideas get into that head of yours know that even if you tried to copy my technique you are incapable of using it as you lack my bloodline." Stated Naruto causing the Uchiha to scowl.

"Now on to more important matters. You were right in assuming that Kusa nin was above our level. That was in fact not even a Kusa nin nor a kunoichi, that man was an S-class nuke-nin known as Orochimaru a member of the Legendary Sannin. In case you didn't know this Orochimaru was a member of the original team seven the students of the Sandaime Hokage. He is also the biggest traitor in the village's history even the Uchiha slayer is number two." Said Naruto shocking the two gennin speechless Sasuke more so than Sakura.

While the two were shocked Naruto removed both scrolls from his hidden seal and proceeded to open them lying them beside one another on the floor. Almost as soon as they were beside one another smoke began to poor off of them before a burst of smoke enshrouded them. When the smoke cleared Umino Iruka stood in the rather dark room with a look of surprise on his face that was quickly exchanged for one of pride.

"Congratulations, you guys have passed the second exam."

AN: That's it chapters done. I know its a bit shorter than what people expected but honestly I'm getting bored with the chuunin exams and just wanted to get on to the next chapter. Also remember to check out my new fic Ninja Spawn. Thanks for reading and leave lots of reviews and I may just update faster. Till next time, LATER.


	12. Chapter 12

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 12: The Preliminaries

AN: Hello all, it's been a while. Firstly i'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Secondly I'd like to point out just for the record that I still believe Kishi is an idiot. Now for those of you who think I've changed Naruto a bit too much too soon, here you go as promised. That said here is the new chapter.

Start Now:

The central tower within the forest of death was actually quite big, bigger than one would normally expect such a black to be. However the fact remains that the place was huge standing nearly as tall as the trees that hid it and it was quite large in circumference as well. Not many knew it but the tower was actually built as a backup command center for the Hokage in the event that the village walls were ever breached and the shinobi were forced to fall back. The place had several levels, as well as several rooms, which made it the perfect place for the gennin to rest after completing the second exam even if only the first two levels were accessible to the gennin.

At the moment Naruto was thankful for the fact that it was as large as it allowed him to wander off and not be bothered by the other two on his team. His team had been the first to arrive within the tower shattering the old record by making it to the tower within forty-five minutes followed closely by a team from Suna. Over the next few days more people showed up but Naruto still found places to seclude himself away from his teammates so that he could read in peace.

He honestly had never thought he would enjoy reading as much as he did before he had met his mother. Now however he always found something new to read. He found he liked adventure stories the most; those that held mythology in them interested him the most. His favorite however was the one in which his name came from entitled 'Tale of the Utterly Gusty Ninja' which he was now reading. He often wondered why there wasn't a sequel written for the book as it was a fairly interesting tale. His mother however had informed him that it was mostly due to the fact that it hadn't sold well at the time it was published.

He sighed as he brushed the thought away as well as some hair that had gotten in his face. He really needed a haircut now as he found his hair had grown too long for his liking. He hadn't minded the longer hair at first due to the fact that it had only grown to the base of his shoulders. Now however it was growing longer as were his bangs which got into his face too much.

"Oh Naruto there you are." Called a voice interrupting his musings.

Looking up he was greeted to the sight of his scarred one time teacher Umino Iruka as he approached. Naruto didn't buy his surprise for an instant as Iruka had this uncanny knack for finding him and it wouldn't surprise him if the man was a tracker ninja with how much he did so even when he didn't want to be found.

"What's up sensei?" questioned the red head as he stood to his feet to greet him.

"All of you guys are being summoned the second exam is just about over." Explained Iruka getting an understanding nod from the gennin who began walking beside him.

"So what have you got there?" questioned Iruka only for Naruto to hand his book to him.

"Tale of the Utterly Gusty Ninja huh, I've never heard of this one." Said Iruka.

"It's a good read and it's the Sannin Jiraiya's first book, no ecchi scenes." Said Naruto

"Really; I didn't know Jiraiya-sama wrote anything outside of his Icha Icha series." Said Iruka.

"Well that didn't really sell well. It was released during the last great war."

Iruka nodded in understanding at that. It was rare for people to buy anything outside of weapons during wartime, even civilians bought less. It wouldn't be a surprise if it just didn't get the needed publicity to get people interested as Jiraiya had been a new writer at the time.

"So what's it about?" questioned Iruka after a few moments.

"It's about struggle and dealing with the curse that is the ninja lifestyle." Explained Naruto shortly getting a raised eyebrow from the academy instructor.

"You do realize that this is a cursed lifestyle right. As long as ninja exist then we will forever be trapped in a continuous cycle of hatred and war. Pain breeds anger, anger breeds hatred, and hatred breeds war. This is the worst invention you humans have ever created, an invention that breeds only destruction." Mused Naruto with a sigh.

"You said 'you humans' do you no longer believe yourself as human?" questioned Iruka cautiously.

"I'm not fully human, Iruka-sensei." Retorted Naruto calmly.

"Naruto just because of that event doesn't mean…" started Iruka only to be interrupted.

"Sensei did you know that I'm not the first Jinchuriki?" asked Naruto causing Iruka to stop.

"What?" asked Iruka in shock.

"It's true; though I'm not surprised you don't know. I imagine the only reason people know about me is because of the attack. Otherwise no one would have ever known. Anyway for just about the last century my clan has been safeguarding the Kyuubi inside the village after Uchiha Madara controlled it during the battle with the Shodai at the valley of the end. My mother was the last Jinchuriki so even in the womb I had the Kyuubi's energy flowing through me. It's why I was chosen because I was already compatible with the Kyuubi's youki." Explained Naruto calmly.

Of course this was a twisted version of the truth. He and his mother had determined that it was only a matter of time before his more demonic form would be seen and had come up with a story for its existence. Of course neither of them had any plans of the village ever learning of the fact that his mother was the actual Kyuubi, there was no point in doing so.

"How many people know this?" questioned Iruka silently.

"Outside of us, just jiji. His wife had known as well and that's it. This is classified information, though I can tell whoever I damn well please." Explained Naruto calmly.

"Why would your clan be the one guarding it?" questioned Iruka with a frown.

"My mother's clan the Uzumaki was distantly related to the Senju. The Senju clan had the ability to suppress demonic chakra; the Shodai could even bind them and the Uzumaki the ability to subdue the bijuu." Explained Naruto.

"So the attack?" questioned Iruka.

"Was more than it appeared; someone purposefully released the fox and directed it to attack the village." Said Naruto.

Iruka was silent after this his mind working quickly to understand all that he'd been told with the given hints. '_The Kyuubi had been first captured at the valley of the end and sealed away during the Shodai's, Senju Hashirama's battle against Uchiha Madara. This meant that an Uzumaki had also been there and while Hashirama suppressed its power that Uzumaki had subdued the Kyuubi. Since it had remained in that clans care then it was sealed within an Uzumaki who had lived within the village. _

_None of the villagers had ever been told about this though. This meant that the Kage's had never been worried about the Kyuubi escaping, which made no sense. There has never been a strong Uzumaki presence in the village; which means that the Uzumaki was close to the Senju of course! With the Senju's ability to suppress demonic chakra they wouldn't have to worry about the Kyuubi breaking free. _

_In fact it hadn't been until the Third Shinobi War that an Uzumaki had even moved to the village. Uzumaki Kushina 'The Red Death' had been the only Uzumaki in Konoha during the war and the time of the Yondaime. He remembered her as one of Konoha's most pivotal kunoichi icons second only to Tsunade of the Sannin. He also remembered that she was rumored to have disappeared a few months before the Kyuubi actually attacked. If his guess was correct she'd actually been sheltered away in preparation for Naruto's birth. _

_Something however had gone wrong someone had infiltrated the shelter and released the Kyuubi. If that was true it would explain why it had taken the Yondaime so long to arrive as he was most likely busy dealing with the man who had released the Kyuubi. No that was only part of it because Kyuubi had actually appeared within the village itself, which meant the man had summoned it and then the Yondaime had engaged the man. Whatever the case the man had enough time to enter the village, summon the fox, and with his control over it…'_

"An Uchiha, an Uchiha caused the Kyuubi attack." Breathed Iruka in shock.

"Yes the Kyuubi attack was caused by someone of Uchiha blood and I took his place as the scapegoat."

* * *

From his position on the raised portion of the floor in front of the giants hands forming the ram seal and overlooking the gennin Sarutobi Hiruzen counted the number of teams quickly. Five from Konoha, one from Suna, one from Oto and one from Iwa, eight teams meaning there would be a preliminary round for the first time in five years in which Konoha had hosted the exam. Despite this he was still quite happy that so many teams had made it from his village four of those teams were only just going through the exam, and three out of them were still in their first year of service.

He could see that many of the jounin around him were seeing and thinking the same thing. Behind him stood the proctors for the exam and the jounin sensei's of the teams. Upon the walkway overhead several of the more prominent jounin of the village were standing each of them hero's in the last shinobi war and heads of their clans. Normally this wouldn't happen but he'd allowed this one time more as a show of force than anything. He'd received word from Naruto, by way of Umino Iruka that a snake summoner was in the forest, had been far more powerful than a gennin should be and was particularly interested in someone on their team.

Because of this he'd had ANBU searching the forest for any sign of the man and they'd come up empty. Because of this he knew that the man, as ballsy as he was and as smart as he thought he was, would be within the building watching the ones that held his interest. While he knew they were no match for the nuke-nin they became a threat due solely to his presence as he'd have to focus his attention on him first and foremost.

From her position on the on the floor Anko scowled as she saw the number of gennin that had passed. She'd been hoping to cut the numbers down to the single digits and instead somehow she had twenty-four gennin that had passed. If that wasn't enough then the news of the hebi-teme being back in the village was like a kick to the stomach. She wanted so much to be outside hunting the bastard down and killing him but the Hokage wanted her with him in the building. Aside from that it would be suspicious if the proctor of the exam wasn't there to end it officially.

As Naruto finally entered the room alongside Iruka he gave the man a nod and took his place with his teammates. Looking around he could see that the gennin had all lined up in three's with their teams and as such he took the place at the front of his line. He was pleased to see that Ino's team had managed to pass and he could also see team eight beside them. He two more Konoha teams with people he'd never met, which wasn't hard considering who he was, well aside from Kabuto. He did see another was that Hyuga Neji kid the glasses wearing teen had mentioned however. Gaara's team was also in attendance, as was an Iwa team, and one more he really didn't care about.

"Now that everyone is here, let's get started." Muttered the Sandaime to Anko who simply nodded and stepped forward.

"Alright gaki's you guys all managed to make it here on time so I guess I should congratulate you lot for passing the second exam." Said Anko before stepping back.

Several people sweat dropped at Anko's casual demeanor the Sandaime among them. Anko however paid them no mind instead she pulled out a stick of pocky and began chewing on it obviously content to ignore the rest of the room in favor of her snack.

"Yes congratulations as Anko-san so eloquently put it." Said Hiruzen as he stepped forward drawing the room's attention to himself.

"Before we go any further in these exams I feel I should explain to you all their purpose." Stated the old man calmly. At this he could tell many were confused and he could see the Inuzuka boy trying to resist speaking out, most likely due to his mother's presence.

"While it is true that this exam is to see who has the qualities needed for chuunin rank there is actually a deeper reason than that as that can be done by one's own village privately. The truth is however that the Chuunin Exams are a substitute for war mostly amongst allies."

A heavy silence descended upon the room at this news. While the upper level nin were unaffected the same could not be said about many of the gennin in attendance. Still the old man had to commend some of the gennin that looked to be more impulsive for being able to hold their tongues.

"You see if you trace back through history you will find that current allies were once enemies, people who fought over who would rule these lands. These exams however were thought up to prevent wasteful fighting and instead give you a stage to do so. You see not only does this replace the brutality of war but it also forces you to risk your lives defending your countries prestige.

Not only that but the third exam in particular brings in funds as the leaders and most influential individuals of the world attend these exams, and these people are potential clients from all over the world. If the strength of a country is clear then that country receives more clients. However in that same reasoning if your country is seen as weak than you will lose clients, and as such signal potential enemies that your country has lost power and even sends out a political message.

As for why it's you risking your lives it is actually quite simple. Each country's strength is determined by the strength of its village, the village by the strength of its shinobi and a shinobi's true strength can only be seen when their life is on the line. This exam is a place to showcase each villages strength and thus for you to showcase your own. However it only has meaning because lives are on the line. Losing lives and establishing balance, that's what friendship in the shinobi world is about."

With this said the Sandaime stepped back and nodded to another jounin who moved forward to stand in front of the gennin. This was a male who wore the typical uniform though his shirt was turtleneck styled and he wore his hitae-tae in a bandana style that covered his brown hair. He also had pronounced lines under his eyes which looked rather droopy as if he was fighting sleep.

"My name is Gekko Hayate; I will be the proctor of the third exam." Said the man before coughing suddenly making many of the gennin wonder why the sickly looking man had gotten out of bed.

"Before we can get into that however, we have something else to do, that something will be a preliminary round." Said Hayate.

"Wait, why do we need a preliminary?" questioned Kiba no longer able to stifle himself.

"Honestly because the first two exams may have been too easy this time around. According to the Chuunin Exam rules a preliminary round must be done to reduce the numbers of participants. Also as Hokage-sama just explained many important people will be in attendance for the third exam. Some fights may take a while and because of their schedules they don't have time to see a lot of kids beat the crap out of each other no matter how much they may want to." Explained Hayate causing several of the jounin to chuckle.

"With that said anyone who is too injured to go on, or just don't feel like going further after hearing Hokage-sama's speech may quit now." Said Hayate.

At this Shikamaru sighed as he really wanted to quit but with the knowledge that his mother would undoubtedly hear about it he decided to tough it out. On another end Kabuto took a brief glance and was rather surprised to receive a stay motion.

"Alright then since no one is quitting that means there will be twelve preliminary matches."

Just after Hayate announced this a scrapping sound covered the room as a portion of the wall to the left of him slid upwards to reveal a large screen embedded into the wall that had been hidden.

"Each match will be decided at random and announced there on the screen, and match number one will be…"

With Hayate's announcement the screen came to life and began cycling through names at fast speeds before stopping.

**Hyuga Hinata vs. Kamizuru Suzumebachi**

"As you can see our first match has been announced. If your name is not there please relocate to the viewing area." Said Hayate before a series of coughs racked him.

It didn't take long for the gennin to move up to the viewing platforms to stand by their jounin-sensei's. Still a few did wish Hinata luck outside of just her team. Closing her eyes Hinata took several deep breaths allowing her nervous energy to leave her before she opened her eyes and faced her opponent. Suzumebachi appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen years old and wore a short battle kimono that was mostly black with pink accents with a yellow obi around her waist. She had short brown hair with blue eyes and a nasty and confident smirk.

Up above on the walkway Hyuga Hiashi looked down upon the two with narrowed eyes. He was surprised as he saw the nervous energy that usually leaked from his daughter in waves disappear as she straightened from her slightly slouched position and fell into a perfect opening stance. This was completely different from what he usually saw from her as her stances were usually full of holes.

"Hajime!"

Immediately Suzumebachi hopped back and whipped her hands forward as a swarm of insects shot from beneath her sleeves. At the same time veins bulged and Hinata's Byakugan went active with only a single focusing seal. As the swarm of insects neared Hinata did the unexpected and jumped not backwards but forwards with the swarm opening up for her in surprise allowing her to pass through unharmed.

As she touched down she shot towards the shocked Iwa kunoichi and lashed out with a palm strike that Suzumebachi only barely managed to avoid. At the same time the swam of insects, bees Hinata noted, doubled back at Hinata who continued to press her attack only for her to drop to the ground at the last instant causing the stingers the bees behind her had launched to hit Suzumebachi instead only for her to fall into a puddle of mud.

"Wow you're actually pretty good." Commented Suzumebachi emerging from behind the statue of hands.

"Unfortunately for you, you're up against me, die now."

As Suzumebachi said this she raised both arms and sent forth a multitude of bees towards her opponent. At the same time more emerged from seemingly all around her so that she was surrounded by a literal cloud of bees. Seeing them Hinata frowned and straightened herself her eyes closed as she brought her right hand up into a half ram seal.

* * *

"Hey Shino you don't think she'll…" started Kiba worriedly.

"I am unsure." returned Shino.

Hyuga Neji meanwhile smirked as he watched the sight. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Hinata stood no chance as the clan as a whole had given up on her training quite a while ago. As far as he was concerned the girl was merely accepting her fate.

"Man it's over." Commented Sakura sadly.

"No." said Naruto his eyes narrowed as he looked down towards Hinata.

"Hinata's chakra is still active, she's planning something." Said Naruto lowly surprising both his teammates and Kakashi.

On another walkway Hiashi had come to the same conclusion. Even with his Byakugan the man was one of the best sensor ninja's in the village and thus could easily tell that his daughters chakra was actually being focused quite intensely.

* * *

Despite the fact her eyes were closed her doujutsu was still active and thus Hinata was easily able to see as the bees moved to descend upon her. Looking further still within her opponent revealed that the girl had sent nearly every one of her bees against her save for maybe twenty. Even still she refocused all her attention back to herself, if she was to survive and even more defeat her opponent she would have to get this right, despite the fact that she'd never managed it before. Finally as the bees were just about upon her the Hyuga snapped her eyes open in a defiant glare while beneath her she could practically see a green field stretch out.

"**Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō (Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms).**"

With that her arms were in movement as what appeared to be streams of chakra followed their path. Immediately bees began dropping all around her split in half as she began to pick up speed until she was moving so fast she appeared to have extra arms. Those watching could only look on in shock as soon the streams formed a large dome of chakra that was now surrounding her. Finally after a few seconds the dome faded showing a panting Hinata who was covered in sweat surrounded by bisected bees that were obviously dead stretching out at least fifteen feet in each direction.

"No way, I lost." Breathed Suzumebachi as she crumbled her legs folding under her due to shock her eyes wide as she took in the scene before her.

"Winner, Hyuga Hinata!" called Hayate upon hearing the Iwa nin.

Almost immediately after he said this Hinata's Byakugan deactivated and she herself fell to her knees with her sensei appearing behind her in an instant.

"Good job Hinata-chan." Whispered Kurenai.

"It worked, I actually got it to work!" said the girl quietly as her sensei helped her up and supported her as they made their way back up to the walkway.

On his own walkway Hyuga Hiashi was also shocked at the turnout of the fight. He'd never seen his daughter in such a way; she had actually fought offensively through most of the fight when she was usually defensive. However what truly had his attention was the finisher, he'd never even heard of such a move. He had noticed that the chakra streams were in all actuality extremely sharpened chakra blades which had given them their cutting edge. However creating such things would take a very high level of chakra control more than almost any technique in the Jyuken style.

The more surprising aspect however would be that it surpassed the Hakkesho Kaiten, which was his clans ultimate defensive move. The Kaiten was a short range defensive technique while this new one of Hinata's was a short to mid-range technique which due to its cutting nature could actually double as an offensive move. It seemed he was wrong for writing the girl off and they would need to have quite the talk in the near future.

Meanwhile the two kunoichi had been moved back to the walkways and Hayate called for the screen to restart. For several seconds it sped through names before once again stopping on two.

**Tsurugi Misumi vs. Kankuro**

As the names were announced the two took their time walking down the stairs until both of them stood before Hayate. Misumi was covered almost complete only his arms being exposed. He wore blue pants and a matching sleeveless shirt with a high collar. Beneath that shirt he wore a short sleeved white one and had a beige sash around his waist. He wore his leaf hitae-tae like a bandana and a blue cloth covered the lower half of his face. Finally he wore a pair of eyeglasses and as a side note Naruto noticed that his entire team dressed alike the sole exception being Kabuto who had his face revealed.

"Hajime." Exclaimed Hayate moving back.

Immediately Misumi sprung forward and dodged under Kankuro's opening right. However in the next instant things got weird as in a very snake like manner Misumi slipped around behind him and his limbs actually stretched until they were coiled around each of Kankuro's own with his arms positioned to snap his neck.

* * *

"What the hell! Who does this guy think he is Rubberband Man?" demanded Kiba loudly at the sight.

"I was thinking Mr. Fantastic actually." said Naruto with a smirk.

"I was going to say Plastic Man." Said Choji.

"Does it really matter; they all have the same power anyway. Damn uncreative writers." Grumbled Shikamaru getting three nods for his words while everyone else looked upon the four with sweat drops.

* * *

"You have all of three seconds to give up before I break your neck brat." Said Misumi.

"Tch, yeah right." Retorted Kankuro.

Misumi didn't even hesitate after hearing this before he did the deed an audible snap echoing around the room before Kankuro's head fell limp.

"Heh, dumb brat." Said Misumi as he uncoiled himself from around Kankuro's body.

Almost immediately however Kankuro's neck snapped up and turned fully around much to the older nins shock while skin flaked off showing a wooden face. In the next instant Misumi found himself bound as four wooden arms emerged from the sides and pulled until he was pinned. At the same time the real Kankuro emerged from the bundle that had been dropped chakra strings connecting from his right hand which twitched before several loud snaps sounded out and Misumi crumbled to the floor.

"Heh, seems you're the one who should've quit." Said Kankuro with a smirk.

In the next minute the revealed puppet was by his side and the bandages Kankuro emerged from were being wrapped around it to be carried as he made his way back up the stairs. Once the medics had cleared the broken Misumi, Hayate motioned to the board once more which immediately began flying through names.

**Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi**

"Finally." Said Sasuke with a smirk.

In no time the two were facing off in front of Hayate. Despite the fact that there was over a foot of height against him Sasuke was still smirking confidently as he eyed the older nin.

"Hajime"

Immediately Yoroi was atop of Sasuke as the boy found himself pinned to the ground as Yoroi held him with a glowing right hand. Sasuke's eyes were wide at not only the speed of his opponent but that he could actually feel him somehow draining him of his chakra. He recovered quickly however and kicked up with both feet knocking the crouching nin back due to the force.

Rising to his feet Sasuke scowled darkly at the older nin and his black eyes bled red as his Sharingan made its appearance. As he took his taijutsu stance Yoroi charged once more only to swing wide allowing Sasuke to land a heavy blow with a kick after he slid around him. Recovering quickly Misumi turned only to be forced to knock away a few shuriken that had been close to hitting him with a kunai. However before he could do anything else he found himself bound by ninja wire.

"Katon: Ryuka no jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)!" exclaimed Sasuke.

Misumi's eyes widened as he found the Uchiha heir holding the other end of the wires before he blew out a stream of fire that was quick to race down the wires. However before it could do any damage Hayate appeared before Misumi and Sasuke found the strings had been severed and thus stopped his flow of chakra.

"Tsurugi Misumi is unable to continue and thus the winner is Uchiha Sasuke." Said Hayate to which Sasuke just nodded.

Misumi however scowled beneath his mask as he rose to his feet and stormed out of the room. Atop the walkway both Kakashi and Sakura congratulated the Uchiha while Naruto merely nodded towards him.

**Ankoku Karasu vs. Kinuta Dosu**

As everyone saw this two more people emerged and went down for their turn. One of the two was an Oto nin who wore a grey poncho top with some type of straw ornament on his back along with matching pants that had a camouflage pattern. The sleeves of the shirt however were too long which were proven by the fact that they even covered his hands. His face was covered in bandages leaving only his left eye visible and he stood hunched over.

The one who had Naruto's attention the most however was Karasu. He wore black pants the ends of which were tapped with red bandages leading into his black sandals. His top was fishnet though over that sat a black trench coat with red interior which was mostly closed only the top remaining open. He had long straight black hair that fell down to his mid back and violet eyes with pointy eyelids. He wore a metallic mask over the bottom of his face covering everything from his nose down to his jaw. He was also the tallest gennin in the room standing at nearly 5'7" and exuded a bored energy as he stood with his hands in his pockets.

"Hajime."

Immediately Dosu dashed forward covering the distance quickly and swung with his right arm which was now revealed to hold some kind of metal gauntlet. Karasu flowed by him easily however as if he was gliding his right hand emerging only for a few short seconds before it was back in his pocket. Dosu turned with a glare yet before he could take a step forward two violent explosions occurred.

When the smoke cleared Dosu's right arm could be seen separated from the rest of his body which didn't really matter because Dosu himself was nothing more than a battered corpse with a hole clear through his chest. Karasu didn't even turn to glance at it and instead was already moving towards the stairs when the smoke cleared.

"Winner Ankoku Karasu."

* * *

Naruto's eyes were narrowed as he tried to figure out what the hell had just happened. He hadn't been able to see anything however to explain the explosions, there were no explosive notes or seals or anything to have caused them, hell he hadn't even touched him! He wasn't the only one trying to figure things out though as all around him the gennin were trying to figure out what just happened. Kakashi however had an idea as did many of the clan heads and the Hokage. Because of this each of them had to up the danger level that this particular Iwa nin presented.

There was a ten minute recess called allowing not only the removal of Dosu's body but for those gathered to take some time to relieve themselves. As they all returned they found the place spotless as not even a bit of blood was left over from the last match and the dead bees from Hinata's match were also gone. Hayate wasted no time activating the screen which scrolled through the names once more.

**Tsuchi Kin vs. Nara Shikamaru**

Naruto held back a snort as he heard Shikamaru begin complaining almost as soon as his name came up. Despite this the Nara heir began walking down the stairs grumbling the entire way. His opponent however was the kunoichi from the Oto team dressed in camo pants with a pale green vest and camo scarf around her neck. Her black hair was actually very long reaching to at least her calves and she wore her hitae-tae upon her forehead. The match if it could be called that lasted all of five minutes with Shikamaru emerging victorious after using only a single move which knocked out the Oto nin.

**Inuzuka Kiba vs. Tenten **

Neither of these two wasted any time heading down the stairs. Naruto took a moment to look over the kunoichi of the pair. Tenten wore a pair of green pants and a pink sleeveless blouse. She had brown eyes and long brown hair pulled into a pair of buns one on each side of her head and she wore her leaf hitae-tae on her forehead.

"Hajime."

Immediately after this was said Tenten hopped back to put some space between them while throwing a kunai that Kiba only barely managed to dodge. That however had given Tenten enough time to produce a scroll. Akamaru took just that moment to try and jump her only for Tenten to step back smack him with the scroll atop the head.

"Bad dog!" Exclaimed Tenten.

* * *

"She didn't." said Ino with wide eyes.

"She did." Said Sakura also wide eyed.

It was quiet on the walkway for a few moments before the first person snickered and like a damn bursting nearly every Konoha nin on that walkway began laughing. On the other walkway with the Hokage and clan heads everyone else was trying to restrain from laughing themselves at the girls actions at the expression that had covered the Inuzuka matriarchs face. After all it was one thing for that to happen to a regular dog but for the girl to do that to a ninkin in front of his Inuzuka partner was ridiculous. Even Naruto had never done such a thing before and the boy had done nearly everything you could think off.

"Maybe Naruto wasn't the only crazy one in that orphanage; maybe he got his crazy from there." Mused Hiruzen though everyone heard him.

* * *

For several seconds both Kiba and Akamaru were in shock at Tenten's actions. However that was over quickly as Akamaru quickly turned vicious launching himself at the girl like a cornered Tora. Kiba wasted no time in following after his pup closing the distance quickly only to have to dodge a pair of hastily thrown shuriken. Despite his dodge Kiba also took that moment to toss a smoke bomb right at the weapon girls feet.

As the smoke enshrouded her Tenten froze so as not to fall into the trap. Instead Akamaru leapt in only to go flying out the next moment before sliding to a stop near a wall. Wide eyed Kiba scowled deeply as his hands quickly changed into claws before he himself charged at the smoke cloud.

"**Tsuga!**" exclaimed Kiba.

At the last moment Tenten rolled out of the smoke cloud just barely managing to avoid the human drill that was Kiba. In her hands Tenten held a pair of black tonfa which she'd obviously used to knock out Akamaru. As Kiba came dashing out of the fading smoke Tenten ducked his wild swipe and slammed one of the blunt weapons into his stomach taking the air from him and folding him over. Moving quickly she spun behind him and gave him a blow to the back of the neck that dropped him. Still moving quickly she turned him over placing one of the blunt ends to the dog nin's throat.

"Winner Tenten." Called Hayate seeing the boys position.

* * *

From her place on the walkway Inuzuka Tsume sighed as she saw the matches conclusion. She had known it was coming the second that Akamaru had lost it. She could tell Kiba had tried to rein him in with the smoke bomb but Akamaru had been too far gone to respond to the usual strategy. While she knew it was an insult to an Inuzuka hound objectively it had been a very good strategy on Tenten's part as taking out Akamaru had severely limited Kiba in what he could do.

Kiba had tried to blitz her at the end but with a sensei like Gai Tenten was used to far greater speed than what Kiba possessed. Whatever the case they'd need to work with not just Akamaru but all the nin-kin now so that this particular incident wasn't repeated. Kurenai also sighed as while Kiba had improved his attitude in the last half year Akamaru it appeared would also need some work. After Kiba and his pup were removed Hayate sighed and restarted the screen.

**Haruno Sakura vs. Yamanaka Ino**

There was a pregnant pause as those that went to the academy with them eyed the two girls who were both looking quite shocked. Eventually the two were broken from their shock and moved down the stairs. Ino however took a moment to look at Naruto who gave her a serious look and a small nod, an action that was not missed by Shikamaru who narrowed his eyes at the sight.

"Hajime!"

Sakura wasted no time charging towards Ino forming a pair of clones along the way. Ino simply stood there as two Sakura's threw punches that passed right through her while she caught the punch of the last and after a quick spin tossed the pink haired girl back. Sakura however managed to recover and charged in again only for Ino to catch her fist once more. Undeterred Sakura threw out another only for that too to be caught.

Ino frowned however as she began putting pressure on the other girls fists and turned her arms over rather easily. Finally she threw her arms to the side and nailed Sakura with a palm strike with so much force she flew back and rolled along the ground before hitting a wall. Struggling to her feet Sakura held a hand to her chest where Ino had hit her as she looked at her warily. Ino said nothing instead she simply pulled her hitae-tae from her waist and tied it around her forehead.

The symbolism of the act however was not lost on Sakura who frowned deeply. It was basically her way of saying that Sakura was beneath her. Gritting her teeth in anger Sakura flew through a chain of seals and disappeared causing Ino to smirk. In the next instant a tree appeared behind Ino and coiled itself around her while Sakura's form slowly rose out of it with her hitae-tae resting upon her forehead. Just as Sakura appeared however Ino burst into Sakura petals much to the pink haired girls shock. In her shock Sakura was unprepared for the petals to suddenly swarm and attack her. As the genjutsu lifted Sakura frowned as she found herself bound in ninja wire.

"Better luck next time Sakura-chan." Said Ino with a smile.

"How?" questioned Sakura.

"I've trained extensively against genjutsu, your level isn't high enough to beat me with it yet." Said Ino.

"I'll get you next time." Said Sakura.

"Maybe, you'll have to get a lot stronger though. I have no plans of stopping at this level." Said Ino.

"Winner Yamanaka Ino." Called Hayate while Ino went about releasing her old friend.

"Sakura-chan don't let Sasuke hold you back anymore. You can be so much stronger than this. Remember he's not the reason we entered the academy." Whispered Ino causing Sakura to go wide eyed.

As the two walked off Hayate restarted the screen. Naruto himself had narrowed his eyes as he realized half of the matches had already gone by. As such theoretically all that was left were the strong opponents. Both Neji and the green guy were left, as was Gaara and Temari, there was him, Shino and Kabuto and finally one more Oto nin and an Iwa nin.

**Rock Lee vs. Akimichi Choji**

"YOSH IT'S FINALLY MY TURN!" Exclaimed the green clad youth as his name came up.

Naruto chuckled as he heard the words. While loud he could see himself doing the same thing in the past along with a silly victory dance to go with it. Of course now he wouldn't do such a thing but he wouldn't look down at someone else. Whatever the case it didn't take long for the two to arrive before Hayate, with Choji taking the stairs and Lee simply leaping down.

"Hajime"

As soon as the word was given Lee was a green blur surprising his opponent who ended up taking a spin kick to the neck. Admirably he recovered quickly and whipped a hand out managed to flip to his feet and placed his hand in a seal. Lee seeing this didn't want to give him the chance and sped forward.

"**Baika no jutsu! (Multi-size Technique)**"

Choji got his jutsu up just in time managing to increase the size of his appearance causing him to blow up like a beach ball.

"**Nikudan Sensha! (Human Bullet Tank)**"

In the next instant he'd tucked his limbs into his cloths and using chakra began running forward. Unfortunately for Choji he was still moving too slow and Lee took advantage by jumping and delivering a powerful kick that sent the boy flying into one of the statues arms where he rolled for several seconds before his technique failed and he dropped to the floor face first and out cold.

"GOAL!" exclaimed Lee doing a backflip which ended with him on his knees with both arms in the air in victory.

* * *

"LEE CHOJI IS NOT A SOCCOR BALL!" yelled Tenten from the walkway.

"You know, I never thought I'd see that happen." Said Kiba wide eyed.

"Yeah but we'll still never let him live it down." Said Naruto getting a nod from a smirking Kiba.

"Like those pictures you have of Sasuke's mom?" questioned Shikamaru in his usual bored tone.

"Wait he still hasn't realized those are photo shop?" questioned Kiba.

"Why would you think they are?" questioned Naruto seeing the Uchiha tensed up behind Kiba and glaring at him.

"Dude I've not only seen those pictures but I've seen Sasuke's mom. She doesn't have a beauty mark." Said Kiba.

"Thanks a lot captain oblivious I was still milking those until you opened your mouth." Said the glaring red head causing Kiba's eyes to widen as he turned to see Sasuke standing there with his eyebrow twitching.

"Those were fakes." Demanded Sasuke.

"Duh, what part of prankster prince don't you get." Said Naruto rolling his eyes.

"And the pictures of Kakashi?" questioned Sasuke.

"Those are real and were incredibly hard to get. It had involved the memorial stone, Gai, sunset genjutsu's, a chicken, some rubber bands, and super glue." Said Naruto causing Kakashi to shudder in remembrance of that particular prank.

"Of course I still do have an open invitation with your mom valid whenever I make chuunin." Said Naruto cheekily.

Sasuke scowled at this not knowing what to think as it could yet again be a prank. Instead he would definitely be speaking with his mother about this. He'd spoken to her before about the picture and she had just told them Naruto had a lot of them since she and his mother had been close friends. Sasuke hadn't been too particular about it then and had never bothered to ask for specifics.

Of course none of the gennin were aware of the jounin listening in on their conversations. Kakashi himself was surprised about how open Naruto was being now compared to how he usually was. However he quickly reminded himself that Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba had been Iruka's troublemaker group and thus had spent plenty of time together. This would make them his friends while he really didn't like his teammates.

**Temari vs. Abumi Zaku**

After the names were announced it didn't take long for the duo to make it down in front of Hayate. Naruto sighed already guessing that the kunoichi would win the bout mostly due to the fact that the Oto nin thus far had proven to be rather weak. As both settled everyone could see both of them held cocky smirks.

"Heh, I get a bitch. This'll be easy." Said Zaku causing Temari to scowl.

"Hajime."

In an instant Temari had opened the metal fan fully and swung it with force.

"Kamaitachi no jutsu."

Before Zaku even knew what hit him he found himself swept off his feet and carried into the air. In no time at all he was suspended within a giant tornado with blades of wind within which proceeded to slice and dice him causing him to scream out in pain. Finally the jutsu ran its course and he fell only to fall atop of Temari's fan causing his back to arch painfully. Throwing him off Temari spun and slammed his midsection with the now closed blunt weapon with such force he made a crater in the wall.

"Winner Temari." Called Hayate eyeing the battered sound nin.

After the medics had come and collected the broken body Hayate started the screen once more.

**Hyuga Neji vs. Aburame Shino**

This match was actually quite interesting to watch. Despite the fact that Neji was supposed to be a genius and had graduated number one in his class he was on the defensive the entire match. Unlike Hinata's match earlier Neji was at a disadvantage in that he'd never faced a bug user before and Hinata had one as a teammate. As such he'd made the mistake of opening defensively and had never been quite able to recover from it. Seeing as Shino was a long range fighter he'd never let Neji get close again.

Instead he'd used his Kikaichu insects to slowly drain Neji of his chakra without him noticing for quite a while. When he did notice he finally rushed Shino only for the Shino he hit to be a bug clone. Unfortunately for Neji he did not know his clans absolute defense and despite working on it had yet been able to make it work. As such he did not even try using it and thus lost the match as he tried and failed to fight the bugs off.

**Yakushi Kabuto vs. Uzumaki Naruto**

As his name was shown Naruto's rather carefree expression slipped away being replaced with the one his team was used to seeing from him. As the two of them met before Hayate, Kabuto scratched the back of his head sheepishly and spoke up.

"You know Naruto-kun I didn't think we'd be facing off against each other."

Naruto was silent and still even as Hayate started the match. Seeing this Kabuto drew a kunai yet before he could move Naruto finally spoke up.

"Kabuto-san, did you encounter one of the giant snakes in the forest?" questioned the red head surprising the older nin.

"No fortunately my team was able to avoid those things this time around." Said Kabuto.

"I see then did you perhaps run into any Kusa nin?" questioned Naruto once more.

"No I can't say that I did." Said Kabuto with a confused expression.

"I see. It seems I'll have to kill you then." Said Naruto shocking everyone in the room.

"Excuse me?" said Kabuto incredulously.

"You said you did not run across any Kusa nin's or giant snakes while in the forest. However the scent of blood and snakes is practically pouring off of you. It isn't coming from your cloths but your very skin meaning you spend plenty of time around its source. You showed an odd interest in us, specifically in Sasuke before the first exam.

Ironically enough Sasuke just happened to be targeted by Orochimaru who separated my team to get to him. Because of this I had to kill a giant snake while in the forest which told me it was Orochimaru since it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Those Oto nin also carry that scent though not as strongly as you do because they don't spend as much time around him as you do. Am I right, Mr. Spy?" finished Naruto causing Kabuto to chuckle.

"Impressive you're a lot smarter than the records show you to be. On top of this your sense of smell is astounding not even the Inuzuka had picked up that tidbit." Said Kabuto causing all of Konoha's eyes to narrow on him.

"Of course if you could deduce all that what makes you think you'd actually beat me once I'm serious. According to Orochimaru-sama I'm as strong as Kakashi and your just a gennin." Said Kabuto.

"Firstly Kakashi-sensei is a lazy ass thanks to that eye of his. He was a jounin at fourteen; if he wasn't so lazy I'm sure he'd already be Kage level so don't think so highly of yourself." Said Naruto calmly.

"Secondly and most importantly I'm not impressed by the words of someone who's famous for being a loser. Jiraiya is famous for his books, seal work, and training the fourth. Tsunade is famous due to her medical achievements. Orochimaru he's only famous because Hanzo spared him, at least the other two made up for the insult." Said Naruto with a smirk.

His words had immediate and desired effects as two bursts of killing intent were sent towards him. One from Kabuto and one from the Oto jounin which everyone who was capable of sensing and tracking picked up on. Kabuto immediately charged forward and was forced to jump back as Naruto quickly drew Benihime and managed to slash him across the stomach. However Naruto raised an eyebrow in surprise as he saw the wound actually close before his eyes.

"You can regenerate." Said Naruto in surprise.

"Ah by focusing my chakra to a particular area I can heal any wound." Stated Kabuto.

However instead of being hesitant Naruto smiled darkly and held his blade in a ready stance. In the next instant he was gone only to appear behind Kabuto already completing a slash before he disappeared once more just as Kabuto had turned in reaction. Reappearing once more upon a wall he vanished only to reappear and gave another slash to the spies back making a bloody cross before vanishing once more. When he reappeared this time he ran the blade completely through his stomach before vanishing once more blade and all to reappear leaning against the statue of hands.

* * *

"That speed it's almost like…" said Akimichi Chouza from the walkway.

"It's different though. That technique was a summoning technique, this is a movement technique." Said Hiashi with his Byakugan active.

"Indeed. I myself would be confused if my allies could not keep up with his movements." Said Aburame Shibi.

"You know I could picture that self-satisfied expression if he was here now." Said Inoichi.

"That's nothing his mother would be worse, troublesome redhead." Said Shikaku with a small grin.

Over with the gennin and the jounin-sensei's all of them were also looking at the scene in shock. Kakashi and Sasuke had both been forced to reveal their Sharingan's and even still all they'd seen were blurs.

"Man who knew he could do that! I'm glad I didn't have to fight him." Said Kiba with wide eyes.

"Indeed." Seconded Shino.

"It's amazing. So that's what it looks like from the outside." Said Sakura in awe.

"You've seen that before?" questioned Shikamaru in interest.

"Once. He used it to escape Orochimaru, he actually had to carry me and Sasuke so all I saw was the surroundings blurring." Explained Sakura

"Hey Shika, didn't he talk about something like this a few years ago?" questioned Choji catching everyone's attention.

"Remember we had skipped one of Iruka-sensei's classes and he was saying every Kage had something special." Said Choji causing both Kiba and Shikamaru to go wide eyed.

"I remember that! It was after Iruka-sensei covered the Kage's and went back into regular history." Said Kiba

"So this is it then. This is Naruto's signature." Said Shikamaru.

* * *

"That technique, Hiraishin." Said Kabuto as he staggered to his feet his wounds sealing themselves closed.

"Nope. Though I'm happy for the comparison, I'm not at that kind of level in fuinjutsu. This is all me though I call it Shunpo (Flash Step). You'd be surprised what I had to go through in the last four years to make this technique. I had to study chakra and jutsu theory and creation and I had to get to a point where I could flat out outrun even the fastest of the ANBU. My love for pranks certainly paid off though. Still your only the second person I've tested this against, sense you can regenerate you can take more damage so I can keep going with it. If your nice and keep regenerating I might even leave more than just a corpse for Ibiki." Said Naruto happily.

"You cocky little shit. You think you can speak like that to me." Snarled Kabuto as he glared with now red eyes.

In an instant he disappeared and appeared throwing a punch which Naruto dodged yet even still he took a chunk out of the statue.

"**Hadou #4: Byakurai**"

At the exclamation Kabuto turned just in time to see a blast of lightning shoot from Naruto's fingers straight at him. Even still despite the speed of the technique he still managed to dodge making Naruto's eyes widen as he disappeared. Kabuto reappeared with a kunai rammed into Naruto only for him to vanish showing him have hit nothing but an after image. Naruto appeared in midair only for Kabuto to chuck a scalpel at him. Naruto grit his teeth as the scalpel impaled him only for him to burst into smoke.

"Heh not bad, you killed my clone." Said Naruto surprising everyone as they turned to see him perched on the walkway beside Hinata.

In the next instant the redhead leapt over the rail and hit the ground only to vanish as Kabuto's hand barely missed him. When Naruto reappeared he was frowning as three slash marks could be seen on the front of his top.

"So your nails sharpened almost into claws as well; interesting." Said Naruto.

"You know I heard a rumor about you a few years ago. Rumor had it that you actually came back from the dead after five minutes had passed." Said Kabuto.

"I was unaware there was anyone outside myself, the Hokage, and the ANBU still alive that knew that detail." Said Naruto with a frown.

"You'd be surprised what information I have on you. I even know about your little pet."

As Kabuto said this his eye strayed to Ino for but an instant causing Naruto's somewhat jubilant expression to melt away instantly. In the next instant a heavy pressure settled down over the room forcing many to the floor as an expressionless visage covered Naruto's face.

"You will take that knowledge with you to the grave." Said the redhead calmly.

"Okiro, Benihime."

At his words many watched in shock as his blade transformed before their very eyes. The blade glowed golden surprising everyone before the glow died. After it did many were surprised with its new appearance as the blade had shortened and now had a razors edge instead of ending in a point. It had also straightened and was no longer the shape of a katana. The blade itself was black with a silver edge, the black section being the longer side.

There was no longer a guard, instead there is a red decorative string wrapped thrice around the hilt, with a three-loop bow on one side and a folded paper decoration on the other. A U-shaped decoration covered the first three or four inches of blade, with a flower petal design right as it meets the string-cross guard. Finally there was the hilt which was now a little on the longer side adding about two or three inches to it as it now bent at an angle, finished by a little crimson tassel dangling from the end.

"Come, death is here for you." Said Naruto lifting the pressure that had settled over the room.

"Tch, a fancy change won't help you!" exclaimed Kabuto as he charged forward creating a chakra scalpel.

Naruto said nothing merely watching the older nin as he made his approach through narrowed eyes. Finally as Kabuto closed the last of the distance he finally acted.

"Nake, Benihime."

Sing she did as Naruto slashed and a blast of crimson energy shot from his sword. Kabuto had no time to react only going wide eyed as it struck him point blank and cut him in half diagonally. He was dead before his body even hit the floor.

"Foolish human, know your place." Said the teen quietly.

* * *

"Kami-sama." Breathed Chouza upon seeing the move.

"What the hell was that?" questioned Inoichi.

"Am I the only one who saw what he just said?" questioned Tsume.

"No. perhaps the pressure from the village really has been getting to him." Said Shikaku getting frowns from each of them.

Across the way the gennin were wide eyed at the abrupt end to the match as were several of the jounin. The only one not surprised about what had happened was Kakashi who'd seen it before.

"Kakashi, where the hell did he get that sword?" questioned Asuma.

"His mother left it for him." Answered Kakashi.

"Kami-sama I didn't think those kinds of blades actually existed." Said Gai.

"Sensei, I want one." Said Tenten turning puppy dog eyes on the bushy browed man.

Hayate himself was also in shock. As a swordsmen he researched anything that had to do with his craft and he recognized two things. Firstly Naruto was good even though he didn't show it in that match the boy could handle that sword. Second there was only one type of sword that could glow like that and change shape and all of them were rumored to be in the hands of demons or the occasional half demon.

Whatever the case maybe he wanted to learn more about both Naruto and that sword. Firstly because the sword was special and secondly because he'd recognized his stance and only one other person had ever used it in Konoha. A few minutes later and Kabuto was completely picked up allowing for him to call the last two down.

**Gaara vs. Tetsu **

Because everyone was still going over Naruto's battle most of them weren't really interested in the final match. Even still none of them missed it as Gaara had used sand as a weapon and literally crushed his opponent creating a shower of blood before dropping the mangled body. Hayate despite the death was happy as they'd finally finished the tournament. Now all he wanted to do was go home.

AN: That's it chapters done (slams head back onto pillow and gives grand sigh of relief). Because you guys waited so long I did the prelims in one sitting instead of breaking it up. Whether you're happy or not I'm tired as I've spent all day typing this as such I'm going to lay down and watch a freaking movie so leave me some reviews for my hard work. Till next time though LATER.


	13. Chapter 13

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 13

AN: Hello all I'm back again. I was initially going to wait a while longer for this but you guys have been asking for an update so here it is and it only took me two days lol. Anyway I'm going to completely disregard cannon in some aspects of this story so get ready for that. That said here's the new chapter.

Start Now:

Despite his lazy attitude and outlook on life Nara Shikamaru was a genius. He wasn't the stereotypical ninja genius like Sasuke and Neji that seemed to pop up so much that he doubted the two were actually even geniuses at all. No he was the classic 'I'm smarter than you without trying' type of genius. With an IQ of over 200 it wasn't hard for Shikamaru once he began to actually try to piece things together often times more rapidly than anyone would like. That was why as the gennin were being dismissed he had wasted no time in moving over to Naruto grabbing his shoulder with that lazy yet serious look that belonged distinctly to the Nara clan. As the red head turned to look at him Shikamaru was slightly surprised to see the calculating look that within his bright green eyes, a look he often saw only when the boy was planning a prank or he'd been working on the jutsu of his during the academy.

Regardless the two stayed until the rest of the gennin had left and only then walked off without a word to anyone. They moved quickly through the forest being escorted by a group of chuunin to the closet exit and refrained from speaking. As they reached the gates the two began a slow walk each of them with hands in their pockets. Shikamaru had used the time to think and figure out all the routes that this course of action could go and once satisfied finally broke the silence.

"What did Kabuto mean back there?" finally questioned the Nara heir.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Retorted Naruto calmly.

"Two things he said. First he implied that you came back from the dead." Said Shikamaru.

"And?"

"When did it happen; I already know that it was the truth. I'm guessing it happened when we were nine." Said Shikamaru.

"Why would you think that?" questioned the redhead.

"It was the first time you'd missed time in the academy, ever and you missed an entire week." Said Shikamaru with a frown.

"If you know this much I don't see the point in asking such a question." Said Naruto looking at him for the first time.

"I didn't think you were treated so badly that the villagers would actually attack you. I was hoping you would deny it and I was overthinking it." Clarified the Nara heir.

"Why would you believe that?" once again questioned the boy.

"I know about the Kyubi." Said Shikamaru bringing them both to a stop.

"I've known it was sealed in you for some time and quite honestly it wasn't hard to figure out. It doesn't change anything though." Said the Nara with a shrug.

"I see and the second thing?"

"Why did Kabuto imply that Ino was your pet?" questioned the Nara his eyes now sharp.

"Is that not something you should be asking Ino?" retorted Naruto firing a question of his own.

"Perhaps but I'm asking you." Said Shikamaru.

"As a friend I will tell you to ask Ino. Otherwise you know how she will react besides it's not my place to tell you her business." Said Naruto calmly

"Tch, troublesome."

The two reached the village proper upon which time Naruto took to the rooftops. Shikamaru scowled but kept going on his own course, despite their friendship he'd learned nothing of what he wished to during their talk. As much as he would like to forget the entire troublesome subject his mind just remained focused on it. He, Ino, and Choji had grown up together and as such he saw Ino much as a sister no matter how troublesome the loud mouthed blond was and as such this entire situation was irking him to no end. In truth he had already come up with a reasonable reason and he didn't like it not one bit. It didn't take the shadow user long to reach his destination that being the hospital and after being directed he found the room that Choji was put up in the Akimichi heir munching on a bag of chips he had no doubt that Asuma had snuck him, said jounin instructor had apparently just stepped out as well.

"How are you holding up Choji?" questioned Shikamaru in his usual slow drawl catching both his teammates off guard slightly with his appearance.

"I'm good Shika, where you been?" answered the Akimichi while still munching.

"I had to talk with Naruto." Said the shadow user.

"About his match?" questioned Choji.

"Yeah, something caught my attention during his match." Said Shikamaru.

"Choji isn't fine Shika, he has a concussion, a bruised spine and bruised ribs." Said Ino with a scowl.

"Aw calm down Ino, I don't even feel anything. Those medics are just worried over nothing. Besides they're only keeping me for observation I'll be out of here by tomorrow." Said Choji causing the girl to huff.

"So what did you have to talk to Naruto about?" questioned Ino turning her gaze away from Choji.

"You actually." Said Shikamaru causing both his teammates to go wide eyed.

"Excuse me." Said Ino with angered narrow eyes.

"During Naruto's match I noticed that Kabuto was looking at you when he was talking about Naruto's pet."

As Ino heard this she felt her heart stop and she paled for but a moment before her heart started beating erratically and she began scanning for escape routes.

"I asked Naruto what he had meant, but he told me to ask you instead." Finished the Nara watching her with narrowed eyes.

"It doesn't matter." Said Ino quickly.

"Yes it does Ino." Said Choji looking at her now with serious eyes of his own.

Seeing this Ino frowned and moved to stand and leave only to find she couldn't move. She glared at Shikamaru who was now holding her in his shadow bind and forcing her to remain seated.

"Let go of me Shikamaru." Said the girl with gritted teeth.

"As troublesome as it is I won't until you stop trying to hide things from us. You've been acting different for a while and we deserve to know why." Said Shikamaru

"It doesn't concern you now let me go damn it." Snarled Ino.

"Fine just as soon as you stop being so troublesome." Said Shikamaru.

"Fine I'm a slave! That's what you wanted to hear right. Now fucking let me go damn it!" exclaimed Ino her eyes showing within them a rage neither of them had expected from her.

"I sold myself into slavery over something that didn't even matter over a dumbass that doesn't give two shits about me or care if I even exist!" exclaimed Ino not even noticing that Shikamaru had let her go in his shocked state.

"When did this happen Ino?" questioned Choji quietly.

"On the day we passed our test with Asuma-sensei." Said the girl sagging into her chair as the anger drained from her.

"So that's why the sudden change. Why your suddenly so interested in training and not driving everyone crazy over that stupid Uchiha." Said Shikamaru.

"Hey Shika maybe we should talk to Naruto, convince him to let her go." Said Choji.

"That won't work. He tried to convince me out of it. I made a stupid bet with him and swore on my hitae-tae and wouldn't listen when he kept trying to talk me out of it." Said Ino with a sigh.

"What was the bet about?" questioned Shikamaru.

"Sasuke what else. I bet him that his sensei wouldn't go along with his story from his team test he would have to be my slave the rest of his life if he didn't. His sensei was standing right outside and by that point I said the reverse and swore on my hitae-tae. Apparently I missed the part about it being like swearing to the Daimyo meaning I either keep my word or I die." Explained Ino.

"Ino, Naruto didn't…" started Choji only to trail off causing the Nara to narrow his eyes.

"What force me to sleep with him. No he's not even fully enforcing it. I still live with my dad, I'm still a kunoichi and I'm still clan heiress. All I really do is go over to his place and clean up every once in a while, cook breakfast, maybe dinner." Said Ino.

"That doesn't seem so bad." Said Choji after a moment.

"It's not. I'm learning a lot and faster than I would otherwise. I just have to keep training and stay out of trouble otherwise he'll pull me." Said Ino.

"What do you mean?" questioned Shikamaru.

"Naruto-sama, he can pull me out of the shinobi ranks. The only reason I can even be a shinobi still is because I was already one when it came into effect. On the plus side since I'm technically Naruto-sama's property I can't do any kunoichi only missions. On the negative I can't go past Special Jounin in rank and I can't go into ANBU" Explained the girl.

"Does it bother you?" questioned Choji.

"No. I didn't think about going for jounin anyway and was probably going to retire before that anyway. As for ANBU I don't really like the thought of being faceless."

Outside of the door Asuma smiled as he listened in on the conversation. He had been present ever since they had first confronted Ino on the subject and had just been about to move in when she had cracked. Thankfully the boys hadn't reacted negatively so he didn't have anything to worry about. Still he would remain by the door and ward off anyone who came to close as long as they remained on this subject.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked up upon hearing a knock at his door and upon granting entrance was not surprised to see the redhead that was his surrogate grandson standing before him. He had sent a chunin messenger for the boy after he had missed him at the tower. Looking around the room Naruto found that his grandfather figure wasn't the only person in the room, his sensei Kakashi was leaning against the wall looking out the window and he could see the major clan heads were also present. He could also see a large man with long spiky white hair, that he recognized after a few moments as Jiraiya of the Sannin was also in the room.

"Ah Naruto-kun thank you for joining us." Said Hiruzen as the boy moved so that he stood before his desk and took the seat the man motioned towards.

"I know you've had a long week but we just need to discuss a few things and you'll be free to go." Said Hiruzen getting a nod from the boy.

"First of all during you match you displayed a technique quite similar to the Hiraishin no jutsu, what exactly was that?" asked the man.

"I call it Shunpo. As I stated earlier I've actually been working on it for years; I came up with the idea right after you told me about the Hokage's actually." Explained the redhead.

"Really? You came up with that after just one talk?" questioned the old man.

"Well no. I knew that I needed something special that would stand out. After first hearing about them during one of Iruka-sensei's lectures, you gave me a better grasp on the subject since you're more knowledgeable. The way I figured it every Hokage had something that made them stand out from everyone else. The Shodai had his Mokuton, Nidaime had his Suiton mastery, your just crazy strong, and Yondaime had the Hiraishin. I actually played around with a couple of ideas until I decided on Shunpo, which would be a movement technique. I actually didn't get it to work until I went to Nami no Kuni." Explained Naruto.

"Well it is quite the remarkable technique I myself nearly thought it was the Hiraishin." Said Hiruzen.

"Theoretically Shunpo can once fully mastered surpass the Hiraishin in speed. However Hiraishin is still superior to Shunpo as it has multiple stages; however Shunpo takes less energy than the Kawarimi. I actually hope to take it to a level where it can leave afterimages that would fool anyone into thinking it's the user."

"I see at the very least the technique is a high A ranked one." Said Shikaku looking at the boy with appraising eyes.

"What of the other technique you used, the lightning one?" questioned Kakashi.

"Ah the Byakurai. Do you remember when I died?" questioned the boy causing Hiruzen to age visibly while Jiraiya actually turned narrowed eyes in that direction.

"Only too well my boy." Said Hiruzen

"Well dying was actually the catalyst. You see our bodies automatically form chakra, however when I died I didn't have a body to form chakra with. When I came back however I possessed reiryoku, which is our spiritual energy tied directly to the soul. However my body already possessed some, that being from the Shinigami when he formed the seal. Really it didn't change me it just made it where I could use reiryoku separately. Reiryoku is also denser than chakra it seems and more potent and I can only use Shunpo and cast Byakurai because of it." Explained the redhead.

"So basically it's impossible for anyone to replicate your techniques." Said Shikaku.

"Basically, I mean you could try copying Shunpo but all you'd really do is end up pulling off a Shunshin if you're lucky. I couldn't get it to work at all using chakra." Explained the teen.

"What about the sword then. How'd you come to possess that?" questioned Chouza

"Well Benihime was actually made specifically for me commissioned by my mother. The blade was actually made from the fang of the Kyubi. When I first got her she was still incomplete and needed my energy and blood for the finishing touches. At the time I didn't have a good grasp of my energies and added not just my chakra but my reiryoku to the blade. Because of the addition of reiryoku she gained her own soul making her a sentient weapon, instead of the semi-sentient one my mother thought she would be. It is impossible for anyone except me to wield Benihime and there are wards within her design to prevent anyone from even touching her if she doesn't wish." Explained the boy.

"The lightning." Said Kakashi causing many of them to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Sasuke tried to take it in Nami and lightning crackled along the hilt forcing him to let go." Explained Kakashi.

"Yeah that's the barrier. Mother was afraid someone would try taking it and thus had that part added. She can also form a shield and protect those she likes that can't wield her. As for her transformation, that is Benihime's true form which requires my reiatsu to activate. The sheath is also capable of forming barriers to protect against attacks, and can also summon Benihime to itself. The sheath was actually made from the bark of a demon tree found right here in Konoha one more than 3000 years old." Explained Naruto caressing the sheath almost lovingly.

"Why would a demon donate something like that?" questioned Hiashi with narrowed eyes.

"It was a present meant to celebrate my birth. My mother is a friend of hers and thus she felt it would be a reasonable gift. I myself have spoken to her and find her a more intelligent conversationalist than both of my teammates. Actually I used to sleep in her branches when the orphanage kicked me out, before you gave me the apartment" Said Naruto calmly.

"Why would you approach such a thing?" questioned Chouza.

"At the time I had certain questions and as the oldest member of this village she knew the answers. For instance she explained the reason the Shodai could use the Mokuton was due to his father being a wood demon, while the Nidaime's father was a water demon." Explained the teen shocking everyone.

"I think I would like to speak to this tree demon." Said Sarutobi.

"You can try, I don't know if she will let you pass however. Each tree in this village is a child or grandchild of hers though so she just may as I have no doubt she has been observing the people of this village." Said Naruto causing several of them to become a bit apprehensive.

"Is there anything else you'd like to share?" questioned Hiruzen.

"Well I did find out why my henge works like it does." Said Naruto thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" questioned Inoichi.

"Naruto-kun's henge isn't an illusion. He actually does change his shape so we call it the Shinko Henge (True Transformation)." Answered Hiruzen motioning the boy to continue.

"It's actually because of the Kyuubi's chakra, because it leaked with mine. Thanks to this I'm capable of performing Kitsune magic, well that plus the fact my mother was the previous container so that helps. Now for most Kitsune they'd only make an illusion but they use pure youki, I use chakra though so it actually has a physical result. In fact I can even do this."

With that they watched in shock as Naruto's hair slowly changed from red and returned to his natural blond coloring. His eyes likewise returned from green to blue, his whisker-like markings made their return as well. Many people blinked in shock and the Hyuga head even activated his Byakugan to find that there was no illusion up whatsoever. Jiraiya however had to actually check to see if it wasn't a genjutsu and went through all known steps to dispel one finding the boy remained exactly the same. All in all he looked like a younger carbon copy of the Yondaime except with whisker-like markings.

"Ok I'll bite how'd you do that?" said Jiraiya.

"The same way you would henge normally, I picture what I want to be. In my case however I actually do become what I want to be. Case in point, my Oiroke no jutsu actually changes me into the form of a sixteen year old girl. I changed my hair to red cause I think mom's hair color looks better and I got rid of the markings because they identify me." Explained Naruto.

"So theoretically speaking you can become anyone you want." Said Shikaku already mentally calculating such a technique for later usage.

"Anyone or anything, I can even become a Fuma Shuriken. Unfortunately it's all cosmetic, I tried changing into Kakashi-sensei once and the Sharingan was just for show." Said Naruto with a frown.

"And what would you have done had it worked?" questioned Kakashi with narrowed eyes.

"I would have put Gai-sensei in a genjutsu that would make it so that he hated spandex and didn't like the haircut or the eyebrows." Stated Naruto seriously causing his teachers visible eye to widen in realization.

"I do change into Sasuke though more often than not and make use of his discounts." Admitted Naruto.

"Discounts?" questioned Chouza.

"Yeah the teme gets a fifty percent discount in every place in the village except Ichiraku's. The librarian even gave me a copy of the Katon: Ryuka no jutsu; only reason I didn't learn it is because I'm not a fire type." said Naruto

"I see, it appears I'll have to find a new librarian." Said Shikaku with a sigh and a muttered 'troublesome'.

"I'll have to find some new restaurant managers as well." Said Chouza with a frown.

"I suppose I'll be paying a visit to the weapons stores." Said Hiashi.

"Did I say something wrong?" questioned Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Naruto-kun that jutsu while only C-ranked is prohibited from gennin. Most of the food stalls are owned by the Akimichi clan and the weapon shops are supported by the Hyuga." Explained Hiruzen.

Naruto shrugged at that it's not like he cared if he ruined things for the Uchiha after all. He wouldn't even pretend to be repentant for something taken that was being unfairly given to him anyway. At the same time he closed his eyes his hair returning to red, eyes to green, and his whisker-markings fading back into his skin.

"Kakashi what do you have planned for the gaki's training for this month?" questioned Jiraiya suddenly.

"Actually I wanted to ask you to handle that. At the moment I'm out of things to teach him. I was also thinking of intensifying his teammate Sakura's training after her loss in the preliminaries." Said Kakashi.

"Hm, I was just about to suggest that. What say you gaki, would you like to train under the Great Jiraiya?" questioned the man in a boastful tone.

"I suppose that will be fine as long as you'll actually focus on the training…ero-sennin." Jiraiya's eyes widened at the old nickname before he nodded seriously.

"I train at my home; you remember where to find it."

With that the boy turned towards the open window and vanished in a burst of Shunpo. Those still in the office watched as he would reappear and disappear at regular intervals until he vanished from their sights altogether.

"You all caught the fact he left things out correct?" questioned Shibi after a few moments.

"It was purposeful."

Turning towards the new voice they were all surprised to find Uzumaki Kushina sitting upon the windowsill as if she had never been gone. Tsume rushed to the woman her nose twitching rapidly before she pulled her into a tight hug which Kushina returned.

"How is this possible?" Questioned the woman as she stepped back.

"Well technically I'm sealed in sochi right now. He just created a clone for me to inhabit so we could all talk." Said Kushina.

"What's going on?" questioned Shikaku.

"I've had sochi purposely keeping things from all of you. Not because I don't trust you, but because you would be obligated to report what you found out to the rest of the council." Said Kushina leaning against a wall.

"You don't trust the council." Said Hiashi.

"There is a leak somewhere on that council. Naruto doesn't know this but he was born premature, the man who attacked me came the night he was supposed to be born."

* * *

When Naruto returned home he was surprised to find Ino was already inside and cooking. Looking around he could see that she had apparently been at it for quite a while with the amount of food that she had cooked up

"I'm surprised to see you here Ino-chan. I thought you'd have been home." Said Naruto surprising her slightly though she luckily didn't have anything in hand at that point.

"My mother is still upset with me." Said Ino grabbing a knife and cutting into the vegetables on a cutting board.

"I don't see why she won't just yell at me and get it over with." Said Ino with a sigh.

"Probably because she blames herself." Said the redhead removing the cutting tool from the girl.

"She didn't do anything wrong." Said Ino

"Perhaps in her mind she has. After all she didn't stop your behavior, maybe she feels she even encouraged it." Said Naruto.

"Should I talk with her?" questioned Ino.

"Would you want your daughter to talk with you?" returned the boy.

"I guess I should." Said Ino after a moment.

"Right let's finish this up and you can go talk to her." Said Naruto only for Ino to stop him.

"I'll finish this up. You head to the bath that I've readied for you." Said Ino.

"Are you giving me an order?" questioned the teen with a raised eyebrow.

"No master I wouldn't dare to, merely making a better suggestion." Said Ino.

"While you're out buy yourself enough sleepwear and clothing to last a month and bring it back here." Ordered the redhead.

"Should I prepare the guestroom master?" questioned Ino.

"Where do you sleep when you're here?" questioned Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"I sleep with Naruto-sama." Said Ino blushing deeply.

"Does the thought of sharing my bed for a month frighten you?" questioned Naruto.

"No master." Answered the girl honestly and quickly.

"Then what is wrong?" questioned the teen only for Ino to blush and turn her head down into the sink.

"I asked you a question Ino-chan." Said the boy only for her to mumble out an answer.

"What was that?" questioned Naruto even though he heard her with his enhanced hearing.

"I said it excites me master." Said Ino her blush only worsening.

Naruto chuckled at that before turning her head and planting a kiss on her lips. Ino's eyes widened before she returned it and he broke away from her.

"Naruto-sama." Said Ino breathing a bit heavily catching his attention.

"Your eyes are golden."

Almost immediately the redhead separated from her and put some distance between them taking slow and steady deep breaths. Ino turned her head away and closed her eyes knowing he would not want her watching him in such a moment.

"Did I scare you Ino?" questioned Naruto his eyes green once more.

"No master. My body belongs to Naruto-sama if you wish to kiss me that is fine." Said Ino remembering the new rules she lived under after the incident.

"And if things had gone further?" questioned Naruto.

"My body belongs to Naruto-sama." Said Ino causing the boy to sigh.

"I'm sorry Ino-chan I didn't mean to do that. If you wish to stay at home this month you may do so." Said Naruto.

"Master?" questioned the girl.

"Ino you may be a slave now but you are still a person. I frown heavily on rape so if I go too far feel free to let me know. That said don't be afraid to be yourself, you don't have to pretend to be someone you're not." Said Naruto running a hand through his hair before turning to walk away only to find a pair of arms wrapped around his upper body.

"Naruto-sama, you may be my master now but I think you are also the best friend I've ever had. It may not be my place to say but the way you treat me I sometimes think of you as my boyfriend. If you wanted me in that way I would not turn you down, not just because of my duty to you but because I can think of no better man to give myself to. Kushina-sama told me what may happen with you and I knew you wouldn't forgive yourself if you took me in that state. I'll be back to share your bed tonight master if you will still allow it." Said Ino into his back.

Naruto turned to her and kissed her cheek before heading up the stairs towards the bath. Seeing him go Ino blushed slightly before turning back to her task of finishing the night's dinner.

* * *

When Jiraiya arrived within the hidden Namikaze home the next day he was greeted to the sight of a mother son, spar with the former winning. The sound of metal clashing rang out as the two clashed swords at speeds so quick that the blades looked more like two blurs to the untrained eye. For several minutes he simply watched the boy as he fought to hold off the furious assault of his mother's before finally it ended with the tip of her blade at his throat.

"Not bad gaki. Not many people can keep up with your mom like that." Said Jiraiya making his presence known.

"Perhaps but I'll beat her soon enough." Said Naruto calmly his competitive instinct showing itself.

"So what do you plan to teach him?" questioned Kushina her own blade crumbling into dust.

"Today I was going to work on summoning."

"So the toad elders are allowing it after all?" questioned Kushina.

"Yup. Since he himself is part of the Kitsune clan they'll allow it." Said Jiraiya.

"Wait you know?" questioned Naruto slightly surprised.

"Gaki, I know everything there is to know about you. I'm the one who named you Naruto." Said Jiraiya seriously.

"That's true sochi. Jiraiya-san knew I was a Daiyokai before your father did. As a sage he is capable of sensing the difference in all forms of energy." Explained Kushina.

"I also want to work on his demonic chakra control. That gennin Sabaku no Gaara happens to be the container of the Ichibi and the Kazekage has made it his mission to drive the kid insane it seems." Explained Jiraiya.

"Have you been able to locate the rest of them?" questioned Kushina seriously.

"Well Yagura is still around and ruling as Mizukage. Kumo has both the Nibi and Hachibi sealed in human containers, Taki sealed the Shichibi within a young girl name Fu, the two in Iwa have gone into isolation and the Rokubi container Utakata is wandering the nations at the moment." Explained Jiraiya.

"So all of the bijuu are sealed away?" questioned Naruto with a frown.

"Yes and its left the entirety of my territory defenseless. The reason no demon comes here is because there are nine demon lords calling the place home. With all of us sealed away the northern lands are practically open for a hostile takeover." Said Kushina clenching her fist.

"According to Pa the summon clans are all acting like the Lords are still free, even Manda as hard as that is to believe."

"Well it's only been one hundred years since the first sealing. It would have to take time for such news to spread, well focus on Kukaku now though since she is closet." Said Kushina

"So how is my training supposed to affect this?" questioned Naruto.

"Well to put it simply you have to prove that you're the strongest. Even though your Kushina's son these guys aren't going to listen to you so you'll have to beat them. There is also the matter of Akatsuki, a group of S-class nin that have gathered and are targeting the Jinchuriki for some obscure purpose." Explained Jiraiya.

"Okay then we'll work on summoning first. After that you'll finish up the Rasengan training, and you'll need to get Benihime to teach you more techniques. Jiraiya will also work with you on your taijutsu while I work on your more demonic skills."

* * *

Orochimaru snarled and clenched his fist as he arrived back within his Hi no Kuni hideout. His entire trip to Konoha had proven to have been a wasted effort; sure he'd tested the Uchiha but he'd not been able to mark him after the Uzumaki brat had showed up. If that wasn't bad enough than the death of his second in command had not been something he had expected or calculated for. Kabuto had been a wonderful tool as not only had he been a wonderful spy but a profoundly talented medic-nin. When he'd allowed the spectacled teen to go forward into the preliminaries he had not thought it would be his last act. Even if it was an acceptable loss it was an unnecessary one especially so close to the time he'd need him most.

Taking a breath the snake nin calmed himself in an effort to clear his head. Despite his death Kabuto had provided some very nice intel with his last act. The Uzumaki boy had created a move with combat applications on par with the Hiraishin of that blasted Namikaze and possessed a weapon that could perhaps equal his own Kusanagi. That meant he would need to be taken care of before he could become too powerful and it would have to be before the date of the Chuunin Exams Finals. He would also have to send someone else to the necessary meeting with his new pawns tomorrow night.

"Sakon!" exclaimed the snake-nin.

Immediately a figure emerged from the shadows on bended knee and despite the feminine appearance he knew this was a male. He wore a brown tunic, skin tight black shorts and a purple rope-belt around his waist. He had dark bluish-grey hair with a long bang that covered his right eye, a dark red beaded necklace was around his neck, and he wore brown eye-liner and had turquoise lipstick. The oddest of all things about his appearance however was the second head attached to his body.

"As Kabuto has fallen you will take his place in the meeting with our new friend's tomorrow night." Said Orochimaru.

"Hai Orochimaru-sama." Said Sakon before he was dismissed and faded back into the shadows.

"Guren." Called the Sannin as another figure appeared.

The next to appear was a female. She wore a green dress with a long left sleeve and a short right one, a red turtle-neck which had a white, fluffy collar and brown gloves. Under the dress, she wore a one piece red suit and finally she wore calf-length brown sandal boots. She had light blue hair kept in a spikey ponytail with long strands framing her face; she had a light skin tone but not pasty, dark eyes and wore red lipstick. Despite her young age barely fifteen at that she was among his most powerful subordinates.

"I have a priority assignment for you. Failure in this is not an option.

* * *

After his discussion with his mother and Jiraiya, Naruto had moved on with Jiraiya to begin his training leaving a horde of clones to work under her direction. At the moment the two were within an isolated training ground that was actually pretty far from the village. As they walked and talked Jiraiya had been quietly amazed by the boy's progress especially on the Rasengan which he'd only been working on sparingly for the last three weeks and had already nearly completely learned having surpassed the second step but not started the third due to the exams. He had also learned of the subtle differences between his two forms, the redheaded Kitsune heir Uzumaki Kurama and the notorious blond prankster Namikaze Naruto. As they left the village proper he had switched himself into his blond self and became a lot more open. From what he could tell he felt that at the moment Kurama was a better shinobi as he was calmer and more calculating in that form.

"Alright gaki here's the deal." Said Jiraiya as soon as they reached the clearing.

"During this month I want you to keep yourself in your natural persona, as Naruto. From what I understand you've suffered from MPD so this personality is the one that suffered the oppression of the villagers. As that extra seal locked portions of your personality away I don't think you've adapted to them fully yet. I think once your fully adapted the two personalities should merge." Explained Jiraiya causing the boy to nod his understanding.

"Now onto the reason why we are here. The Kuchiyose no jutsu while only officially given a C ranking is perhaps one of the most powerful techniques to exist. It is in all actuality a space-time ninjutsu allowing something to be transported long distances instantly. In truth learning the finer mechanics of this technique will make it easier for you to recreate the Hiraishin at a later date; Minato only left clues for it as he felt you would only surpass him by recreating it. Now for the type of summoning were speaking of which is animal summoning you'll have to first sign the contract in order for them to even respond. The contract must be signed in blood, and since our blood carries trace amounts of our chakra that will be present as well. In order to perform the technique however you will need to offer blood once more and perform the necessary seals, specifically I (Boar), Inu (Dog), Tori (Bird), Saru (Monkey), and Hitsugi (Ram) in that order. The amount of chakra you put into the jutsu will determine the size and rank of summon that will be called."

After his explanation Jiraiya bit his thumb and ran through the seals before slamming his hand to the ground and calling out the name of the jutsu. There was a large burst of smoke which cleared to show Jiraiya standing atop a very large toad. Its skin was a dark orange color with blue markings covering its body; the toad also had bandages wrapped around what would probably be its waist and left foreleg. It wore a large necklace with seven beads upon it the largest, centermost one marked with the kanji for 'loyalty'.

"Naruto this here is Gama, the holder of the Toad contract. Gama that gaki is Naruto, Minato's boy. Let him sign the scroll."

The toad croaked its yellow eyes alight in happiness before he rolled his tongue out the scroll which had been held there rolling to the ground before turning so that it was horizontal for him and unraveling itself for a few moments before it stopped at the first empty slot. As he looked it over he could see that his father's name was written in the slot just before the one meant to himself and Jiraiya's was in the slot before that. Piercing his right thumb on his canine he wrote the name 'Namikaze Naruto' clearly before placing a palm print to match the others spreading his blood to the other fingers to do so. As soon as he finished the small puncture wound hissed and steamed as it sealed itself shut his natural demonic healing factor showing itself.

"Alright gaki give it a try." Said Jiraiya hopping down from his perch.

Naruto nodded his head and once again bit his thumb before quickly running through the seals channeling what he felt was a reasonable amount of chakra and placing his hand to the ground. He noticed some sealing script appear centered around his hand before it was clouded by smoke. The sensation of rising quickly took him next as he was hidden in smoke for several seconds before it cleared up. As the smoke cleared Jiraiya was once more impressed as Naruto had successfully summoned not only his first toad but a major one. The toad was far larger than what he himself had summoned big enough to tower over even the tallest of buildings, it had a light blue color with two large swords resting on its back and an orange sash around its stomach.

"Damn gaki managed to summon Gamahiro on his first try. Kushina really did fix his chakra control issues." Said Jiraiya quietly before speaking load enough for both the toad and Naruto to hear.

"Yo Gamahiro sorry about that I didn't think the kid would summon you on his first try!"

"So your Minato's boy eh. Well you still gotta get the okay from my brother but I think you will so welcome to the family." Said Gamahiro rolling one large yellow eye so that he could see the boy.

"Thanks, I hope we get along well." Said Naruto jumping down to the toads nose so that it could see him easily.

"As long as you don't pick up the perverts bad habits will be just fine." Said Gamahiro.

Naruto smirked and nodded before leaping off and landing nimbly on the ground allowing the large summon to dispel itself. Jiraiya however had a bit of a twitching eyebrow upon hearing what the toad had said about him only making the blondes smirk widen. Seeing this Jiraiya quickly composed himself and moved on.

"Congrats gaki that was pretty good. Now let's try again this time use less chakra, we'll start small and work our way up so that you know the amounts needed for the different size summons." Said Jiraiya back in business mode.

* * *

Sakura panted as she came to a stop and bent so that her hands were on her knees. She was covered in sweat her long pink hair matted in it as was her dress. Kakashi stood before the girl and said nothing for a few moments allowing for her to catch her breath his eye looking at her lazily. Sakura felt like she was being punished her sensei had showed up at six that morning unannounced and proceeded to drag her to a training field. She'd been forced to do exercises she hadn't done since she'd gotten out of the academy one hundred jumping jacks, pushups, and sit ups. She'd ran the length of a tree fifty times and had to run around the village walls twice and contrary to what she once thought to be true Konoha was a big place.

"Sensei did I do something wrong?" questioned the girl once she was able to breathe though still panting.

"Actually you did. You basically wasted all of your time in the academy and the free training time I give your team by showing up late every day. So you and I will be using this month to correct your deficiencies." Said Kakashi.

"But shouldn't you be training Sasuke-kun and Naruto for the exams?" questioned the girl.

"Already taken care of. Sasuke's mother will be handling his training, and Naruto has a very special teacher for the month as well. Both of your teammates have a very real chance of being promoted soon so you and I will be working so that you can have that chance the next time around." Said Kakashi seriously.

"How?" questioned Sakura curiously.

"Your chakra control and mindset gives you a high aptitude for both genjutsu and ijutsu. I will gear you so that you can be able to do either, though I think ijutsu would be a better path for you in all honesty." Said Kakashi.

"You want me to become a medic-nin?" questioned Sakura in confusion.

"From what your file says you will be perfect for it. Medic-nin require both a high intelligence and excellent chakra control both of which you have. Despite the fact that your reserves are small your control is still perfect and will remain as such as long as you work at it even if you push your reserves to grow. Despite both your teammates being combat types as a medic-nin you will become the most important aspect of the team, as you'll be the one that makes sure everyone manages to return home in one peace." Explained Kakashi causing the girls eyes to widen in surprise.

"Now then breaks over, if you've got the energy to talk you've got enough to train." Said Kakashi inwardly smiling at the girls paling face.

* * *

As the sun dropped down on the horizon Sasuke panted as he dropped his stance to rest from his training his mother having retired to the house. Despite the fact that she was still suffering from a career ending injury she had still managed to wipe the floor with him before leaving him to work on his own. After seeing that redheaded teammate of his wield a sword he had approached his mother about the prospect himself. She had agreed to teach him and he'd chosen a chokuto as opposed to the katana his mother favored and the ninjato he knew Itachi used. He hadn't had to buy one seeing as they had many sitting unused in his clan's armory so he had simply taken one from there. Of course that wasn't all he was working on as he had taken to studying several of the jutsu in his clan's library, most of them being fire techniques.

"Kukuku, excellently done Sasuke-kun. Perhaps there is hope for you yet." Came a sickeningly familiar voice from the shadows.

Immediately he reacted his Sharingan eyes activating on instinct alone and his sword coming up into a guarding position. Looking all around him the young Uchiha searched for the source of the voice slowly circling. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glint and reacted only just able to deflect the kunai that would have skewered him. Despite this however the force was too great and his arm went wide. His eyes caught the movement yet he was simply to slow to react as the kunoichi ducked beneath his sword before coming up and slamming him down into the ground by his neck. His left hand immediately formed a half seal and he breathed out spitting out a small ball of fire that slammed right into the pale man's face forcing her off. Leaping back he watched as she pulled her face stretching like elastic for a moment before ripping away revealing a more pasty male one with sickening yellow eyes that reminded him of a snake.

"Interesting you've mastered the Hosenka no jutsu to such a point that you need only a single focusing seal to use it." Said the man with an impressed tone.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded the Uchiha.

"An old acquaintance of your brother's interested in seeing if you have his same potential." Said the man.

Though he had been working on it since his talk with Yamato in Nami no Kuni Sasuke had still not completely mastered his emotions when that subject was brought up. The proof of this was seen when the boy immediately gained an angered visage his previous wariness going out of the proverbial window. Seeing this the pale man chuckled and at just that moment Sasuke cried out in shock as he found himself bound with his hands forced to his sides a large brown snake wrapping itself around him.

"Kukuku you do indeed have the potential for power perhaps even surpassing that of Itachi. You've entertained me greatly so here is a small gift."

With that said Sasuke's eyes widened as the man's neck stretched out quickly closing the distance mouth open and fangs, real honest to kami fags glistening. His eyes still active the sight would be forever burned in his memory as his neck was punctured. Initially his eyes widened in shock and his eyes returned to their standard black it was only afterwards did he scream.

* * *

She had watched her target for hours as he trained. She found it hard to believe that this child, a gennin had killed Kabuto. Not to be confused she hated Kabuto and was actually glad the bastard was dead, however for someone at a jounin's level to die by the hand of a gennin was laughable. Still she had received her mission from Orochimaru-sama and now here she sat watching the boy as he trained summoning both toads and oddly enough kitsune's. She'd never actually heard of a Kitsune contract and wished she'd have gotten closer if only to hear what had been said. At Orochimaru-sama's direction she had positioned herself downwind as he apparently possessed an enhanced sense of smell. She had also been expecting his hair to be red but figured he'd simply washed the dye out and hadn't bothered to replace it. As the boy dismissed his latest creature she made her move figuring by now he had to be nearly out of chakra and after forming her seals launched a barrage of crystalized needles to shoot out at him.

As the attack struck her eyes widened seeing the boy burst into a cloud of smoke and she immediately ducked only barely avoiding the katana that very nearly beheaded her. Kicking out behind her she felt the force of the attack drive home and force him back allowing for her to spring forward and turn so that she could face him. Naruto himself rebounded easily from her kick and had attached himself to the bark of a tree via chakra by his feet.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded the blond.

"I suppose since you are going to die I can humor you with an answer. I am called Guren, your executioner."

With that the girl dashed forward a crystalized blade forming and attaching itself to her forearm. Naruto met her gladly and surprised her as Benihime easily cut through her crystal blade like it was nothing. Naruto didn't give her a moment to recover though and immediately nailed her in the stomach with a kick of his own sending her flying from the trees to the ground below. Recovering quickly Guren sprung from her right hand with a backflip to land on her feet on the ground below and looked up just in time to see the blond come flying down at her.

"Shoton: Shuriken Ranbu (Crystal Release: Shuriken Wild Dance)"

At her exclamation she was surrounded by what looked to be pink energy before she whipped her arms outwards the energy shooting towards the blond and forming itself into numerous crystals. Acting quickly Naruto created a single Kage Bunshin which quickly threw him down and out of the way just in time for it to get nailed by the rain of crystals. On the way down Naruto quickly fired off a Byakurai only for Guren to dodge out of the way allowing for it to punch into the ground and explode. Looking up Naruto was quick to dodge out of the way as several snowflake shaped crystals flew at him like shuriken. He had no time to settle however as a long stream of crystal shot out towards him from along the ground annoyed the blond leapt to the side to dodge before dashing forward once again drawing Benihime. Flashing through two quick seals Guren summoned a pink crystal dragon from the ground before launching it at him. as it came down Naruto vanished in a quick burst of Shunpo causing her eyes to widen as he reappeared having covered half of the distance that had separated them. Guren however smirked and another dragon rose from the ground just in front of him before slamming into him sending him flying back Benihime falling from his hand. He had no time to recover as the other dragon had doubled back and slammed him into the ground where he created a crater.

"This was fun too bad it's over. Oh well he should have never crossed Orochimaru-sama." Mused Guren before sending the two dragons back towards the boys smoke covered position.

As they neared him however Naruto's eyes blazed gold and his pupils dilated into slits. In the next instant blood red chakra burst out from him and he exploded into motion leaping up and cleaving the two dragons in two at their necks with his now clawed hands. As he turned his glare upon her Guren felt her throat clench up as she lost the ability to breathe and fell to her knees as a sudden crippling pressure settled upon her. As he turned his gaze away in favor of Benihime she felt her breathe returned though her eyes remained wide and frightened, as he wrapped his hand around the hilt Benihime began to rattle the sword singing in irritation to match his own. Seeing his attention elsewhere Guren focused on herself before her own chakra began to cover her form before she was quickly encased within a prism of crystal its tip pointing towards the boy. Smiling darkly she focused her chakra before a blast of chakra shot out towards him at quick speeds.

"Nake, Benihime."

As the beam struck Guren laughed only for it to die upon discovering a blood red shield had appeared and had blocked her attack to no effect. Crying out in rage Guren launched a barrage of blast one after another at the blond determined to destroy him until finally she could fire no more. Panting heavily from the expenditure of chakra she watched anxiously for the smoke to clear from her barrage of attacks. However before it could clear a blast of red energy shot out covering the distance between them quickly and not only shattering her protective prism but hitting her with such force that she was sent flying before she hit the ground hard and rolled along crying out as she felt an arm and a leg break. Walking over to her Naruto stared the girl down with his golden eyes causing her to shiver as he placed the sword at her neck, which was the scene Jiraiya, Hiruzen, Kakashi, and a team of ANBU members arrived to.

* * *

In a far distant land a youthful looking man greeted his visitors with bored golden amber eyes. His long white hair hung freely down to his waist and he wore a pair of white Sashinuki Hakama which gathered at the ankles producing the "ballooning" effect. His Kimono is mostly white with a red chrysanthemum flower crest at the collar and sleeves, atop of which he wore his armor which included a spiked pauldron that covers his left shoulder attached to the upper section of his cuirass. He had a Prussian blue crescent on his forehead along with two magenta stripes on each cheek and on the sides of his wrists as well as one magenta stripe on each of his eye lids. He was the Daiyokai Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands.

Not far from where he stood sat the familiar form of the blacksmith Totosai looking over a sword in his hand with the eyes of a master craftsmen. His guests were a group he had grown familiar with over the last few years. The most familiar of the group was the form of his half-breed brother Inuyasha who now wore an outfit similar to his own except red and without the armor the most obvious sign of his heritage being the dog-like ears that sat atop his head. At his side was his new mate and old traveling partner Kagome, though his brother's obsession with human Miko's was a bit troubling. Along with the group was the priest Miroku, and the former demon hunter and Miroku's wife Sango, atop her shoulder the small form of the two tailed cat demon Kirara was perched as always. Finally was young Shippo who aside from Kirara was the only full blooded demon of the bunch, him being a Kitsune and young appearing at the age of a 7 year old human though his bushy fox tail gave him away.

"Inuyasha why have you sought me out?" questioned Sesshomaru calmly.

"I didn't the brat wanted to talk to you, I just got dragged along."

Sesshomaru highly doubted that. As much as his foolish brother tried to hide it he knew he was protective of the little Kitsune, perhaps as protective as he was of his own charge. He could also see the mirth in Kagome's eyes at the statement which told him that he had volunteered to come all on his own.

"Well Shippo, what is it you wish to speak about?" asked the demon turning to the youngest of the group.

"What do you know of the Northern Lands?" questioned Shippo with a serious look within his eyes.

"The Northern Lands, why would that place interest you?" questioned Totosai before Sesshomaru could speak much to everyone's surprise.

"Shippo disappeared during lunch and when he came back he said that's where he'd ended up." Said Kagome.

"Vanished in a puff of smoke, did he?" questioned Totosai.

"Yes and when I got there I was greeted by this boy, Kurama." Said Shippo.

"So he is learning how to summon now, huh." Mused Totosai aloud.

"What is this you speak of?" questioned Sesshomaru finally.

"The Northern Lands are ruled by a group of nine Daiyokai known collectively as the bijuu. They are led by the one known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, Uzumaki Kushina the head of the Kitsune clan. Young Kurama is Kushina's son." Explained Totosai.

"How do you know of her?" questioned Miroku.

"I met her perhaps 80 years ago through a mutual acquaintance. When Kurama was conceived 13 years ago I was commissioned to create his sword." Explained Totosai

"When I met him he smelled human, then suddenly he smelled like a demon." Said Shippo in confusion.

"Kurama like Inuyasha is a Daihanyo. However unlike others he is capable of switching between human and demon. In the Northern Lands only the strongest of Yokai can survive the land is covered by shinobi, think of them as super powered demon hunters." Said Totosai.

"I've heard of shinobi, they were supposedly assassins for hire. Where I grew up they have become tales of folklore." Said Kagome.

"Well here and now the shinobi do exist. These humans are capable of using their own inner energy and bend the elements to their commands. They can also seal away demons and have become very good at it. However their rulers are fools and they have fallen into a repeating cycle of war." Explained Totosai.

"And these Bijuu allow this?" questioned Sesshomaru with narrowed eyes.

"Most of them don't care. None of their clans actually live in a place that can be reached anyway. They have all created a separate dimension for the various demon clans. As far as their concerned as long as the humans are fighting among themselves they won't be a bother." Explained Totosai.

"And what about this summoning?" questioned Sango.

"Ah well that is a technique developed by the shinobi that bends space time. What you need is a contract with a certain tribe, if you don't have that and you try it you'll most likely end up in the land the clan you descend from lives in." said Totosai.

"I think I shall visit this land." Said Sesshomaru after a few moments silence.

"You will have to get permission first. As a demon lord yourself stepping on that land without notification would be considered an act of war, the same goes for Inuyasha. However I think the dog and wolf demons there will vouch for you and I believe I can get Kimiko to agree." Said Totosai thoughtfully.

"Kimiko?' questioned Shippo.

"Kimiko is the eldest child of Kushina and a Daiyokai herself. Despite being less than one hundred years old Sesshomaru she may be more powerful than you are." Said Totosai shocking all of them.

"How is that possible?" demanded the dog lord.

"In the north they use an energy known as chakra. For a demon it is a mix of youki and physical energy. It allows for much more potent attacks and control over elements. Because of this Kimiko's full demon form stands at about 31 meters (101 ft.). When I tried to teach you how to use this energy you refused still obsessed with Tessaiga." Said Totosai.

"So it is possible to use this energy." Said Sango.

"I suppose I could teach you all how to use it. In three years' time if you're ready I'll allow you to go there. I will not let any of you just walk to your deaths."

AN: That's it chapter's done. And yes, I did just go where you think I did so get ready for that. This chapters actually way longer than I was initially going to make it but I'm happy with it. I don't watch the anime but I really hope I did Guren justice. Anyway thanks for reading and please review; till next time LATER.


	14. Chapter 14

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 14

AN: Hello all it's been a little while. Firstly thanks goes to everyone who reviewed and got me writing this chapter so quickly after the last one. So the manga's gotten Naruto kicking ass and taking names finally but I wish all of his power ups would stop revolving around the Kyubi I mean seriously he's got Kage Bunshin and is completely disregarding the training method; he should already be Kage level without the damn fox. Anyway let me stop ranting before I get pissed so here's the chapter.

Start Now:

To say that Sarutobi Hiruzen was angry would be the understatement of the year. The man who in the latter stages of his life had become the village's grandfather figure was far passed angry and had moved on to murderous. The sheer amount of bloodlust that poured off of him even when not channeled was enough to remind everyone that this man had once been hailed the 'Shinobi no Kami', the infamous S-class ninja that had survived all three Great Shinobi Wars. Morino Ibiki could feel the man's tempered yet still heated gaze on his back as he conducted his interview on their latest prisoner. There had been no need for an interrogation as the girl Guren as she was called was answering all of the questions he asked, and seemed quite unperturbed by her state of undress; he had no idea Orochimaru had actually made the girl train in the nude quite often as he did every aspiring kunoichi so they would not care for things such as wardrobe malfunctions. Of course he also knew that the reason for the lack of resistance was the beating she had received at the hands of the target of her assassination mission, one Uzumaki Naruto, who stood on the other side of the class beside the Hokage and Jiraiya even now.

Thanks to the fact he was still in the village many had been alerted to the battle the two had once the felt the surge of demonic chakra the blond had released. They had arrived to find the boy, blond once more, standing over her beaten form sword poised at her neck and not a hint of hesitation present in him at all. While he normally wouldn't allow a gennin's presence no matter the situation it was only helping the situation at the moment; and it didn't hurt that the old man had brought him. Still already he had learned much from the girl; for instance she was Orochimaru's number three and had been given the mission to kill the boy by the snake himself after Naruto had killed Yakushi Kabuto, Orochimaru's now deceased number two during the preliminaries.

She possessed a very rare Kekki Genkai that allowed the usage of Shoton (Crystal Release) ninjutsu, which was a combination of two elemental natures. She had been recruited by the Snake Sannin as a child after he had massacred the people of her native village. Thanks to her admissions he had also learned that Orochimaru had completed a technique that allowed him to take over the bodies of others, for a maximum of three years, which granted him all the abilities of the body even after he left it. Guren was one of the top candidates to be his next host body, as his previous candidate Kaguya Kimimaru was now deemed unsuitable having contracted tuberculosis something which Kabuto despite his medical skill could not heal, though he had managed to stall it for quite some time.

He had learned that Orochimaru still had connections within the village, including someone who was apparently ignoring his presence, or rather looking the other way in the villages barrier squad. He also had someone high enough that they'd been able to call away the Uchiha boys ANBU guard allowing for the Snake-nin to brand him with his cursed seal. The real kicker however was learning of the planned invasion that they had tricked Suna into assisting them with. Apparently Guren had been part of an elite team that had met with the Kazekage who they had killed along with his elite guard allowing them to put someone in his place. The invasion was set to take place on the day of the Chuunin Exams Finals and their main weapon was Sabaku no Gaara who would be releasing the Ichibi no Shukaku on the village. For over four hours he interviewed her before finally calling it quits allowing her to be taken to her cell.

"So what will we do with the girl?" questioned Jiraiya as Ibiki entered the small observation room.

"I want her." Said Naruto turning to look at his grandfather figure.

"We generally execute the prisoners if they're allied with people like Orochimaru." Grunted Ibiki.

"True enough. However she is too big of a temptation. I guarantee the ANBU are already talking and it won't take long for word to reach other figures within the villages political body. Danzo most certainly will demand the girl and if not the council will push to give her to the Uchiha brat as a breeder." Said Jiraiya with a frown.

"Ibiki-kun I want a thorough investigation done. I want to know who Orochimaru's supporters are and who among the barrier squad had turned traitor. You lead the investigation and if necessary callin your old partner." Said Hiruzen, his murderous intent dying down to be replaced by a stern faced war veteran.

"Jiraiya, Suna needs to discover the truth before any damage can be done. Before you leave however give Naruto some ninjutsu including the ones we discussed earlier." Said the man getting a nod from his old student.

"Naruto I want you to train and do so harder than ever. Because of your part thus far you've already assured your promotion so the exams no longer matter for you. However you will play a key role that day so you should be ready for it. As for your request regarding the girl you will have my answer in the morning; understood."

"Hai; can I go all out at that time?" questioned Naruto prompting a raised eyebrow from Ibiki.

Very well; in this instance I'll allow it." Said Sarutobi with a sigh getting a feral grin from the blond.

* * *

Hyuga Hiashi sat calmly within his office with the ever present expressionless mask that had been mastered by the Hyuga clan so long ago applied to his face. Across from him Hyuga Hinata sat almost calmly though she was fidgeting if only slightly. He wouldn't speak of it however as it was better than the literal shaking mess she'd been in his presence for so long now that he'd forgotten when it had really started. At the moment he was focusing on the more intriguing matter that was the new jutsu she had created and displayed within her match during the Chuunin Exam preliminary rounds; the Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho. From what he'd observed his daughter would emit a constant stream of chakra from her palms, creating extremely sharp chakra blades. Due to her flexibility, Hinata can reach any point around her, allowing her to hit any target within her field of vision.

While using this technique, Hinata moves extremely fast, fast enough her movements become a blur, allowing her to hit hundreds of targets with extreme precision, much like the clan's Hakke Rokujūyon Sho. It is so precise that it can cut smaller targets, like Suzumebachi's bees in half. Additionally, according to Hinata's own confession its design would allow her to control the size of the chakra beams in her palms, allowing her to create larger, arc-shaped chakra beams that spread out across her entire attack range. With the addition of Hinata's flexibility, the technique had in effect become an absolute defense similar to that of the Hakkesho Kaiten, though the cutting nature of the chakra would also prevents any outside force from restricting it. In this way, the technique can be used as both an offensive and defensive maneuver thus surpassing the Kaiten which was purely defensive.

"This move of yours requires not only precise chakra control but coordination, focus, and quite the high amount of chakra. It tells me that you have been holding back all of these years in your training." Said Hiashi finally causing her to look up at him in shock.

"Obviously it was a subconscious effort on your part. However the fact remains that you've been holding back as seen in your match against the Iwa girl; you showed none of the hesitation that you normally exude during training." Said Hiashi in clarification.

In truth the man was quite pleased with the current situation. His daughter wasn't the weakling everyone had pegged her as, no in fact it seemed despite the gifted vision the clan possessed they'd all simply missed the signs that she simply did not wish to hurt anyone. The girl really was just like her mother, far too kind for her own good in the cruelness that was the shinobi world. Still now he had something to work with and a goal to work towards. Perhaps if everything worked well he could even mold her into a suitable heir as he had once thought she would be.

"Go and rest. We will begin your training at first light."

* * *

Elsewhere another figure sat behind his desk with a frown covering his features. The figure was actually that of an old man with a triangular beard and a moustache with angular corners. He has a big red nose and thick rectangular-shaped eyebrows. The top of his head is completely bald, although, he has some white hair at the back and sides of his head, the back of which is tied with a yellow ribbon into a topknot. This man was none other than the Sandaime Tsuchikage, Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki (Onoki of the Twin Scales) one of only two shinobi that had been around since the beginning of the shinobi village system, the other being his counterpart Konoha's Sandaime. At the moment he was overlooking a sheet of parchment, a letter from one of his better jounin which informed him that one of his genin had made it to the finals of Konoha's Chunin Exam.

While he normally refrained from sending his shinobi there he'd had no fear of doing such with Karasu. Though only a genin he was a prodigy of his Kekki Genkai and a shoe in for the subsequent corps once promoted. Onoki had spotted the boy quite early on and had taken him on as an apprentice; and although he couldn't teach him his own techniques he had given the boy more than enough ideas to create his own style with using his Kekki Genkai. That wasn't what had his attention at the moment however; no that honor went to what else was in the report a move developed by one of Konoha's genin by the name of Uzumaki Naruto. At just the first hand description he could understand why the jounin had written him about it as this move could one day quite possibly be just as devastating as that damned Namikaze's Hiraishin.

He would need to head to Konoha himself and assess the situation and Karasu's attendance in the third exam would give him the perfect excuse to attend. That however brought up another problem as he would need a pair of suitable guards. He already had a pair in mind, one of which was the person he was already grooming to become his successor though the man had no idea. The other was a man he'd known for quite some time and while he had not seen him in quite a while he would indeed answer his call which was the only reason he hadn't sent people out for his capture and return. Pressing the button on his intercom, though it took a while for him to find the right one with the damn technology of this newer generation, he eventually found it and called out to his secretary.

"Summon Kitsuchi and send a letter of return to Roshi."

* * *

Naruto frowned as he looked down at the balloon currently held within his right hand. It had been only a few hours since Jiraiya had left for Suna though he had given him a few new jutsu to work on in his absence. The first of which had been the Hari Jizo (Needle Guardian) which was a defensive technique which encases the user in a countless number of sharp needles, but in truth the spikes are the user's hair. Chakra granted the strands of hair the hardness and shape of needles, endowed with a capacity to injure and kill on par with that of metallic weapons. That was Jiraiya's description of the B-rank technique and the only downside Naruto saw would be that it would mean allowing his hair to grow longer. He really didn't like his hair now even if it only reached the bottom of his neck the strands in the front had a tendency to fall in his eyes and it was irritating when the back got into his shirt.

Besides that he'd been given the Doton: Yomi Noma (Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld). This one was A-ranked and according to Jiraiya worked by changing the surface of an object beneath an enemy into mud and creating a swamp, allowing the user to sink his enemy into the mud. Furthermore the adhesive properties of the chakra-infused mud would ensnare the enemy's body, making it almost impossible to recover one's strength and escape from the swamp. The size and depth of the created swamp however depends on the user's skill and the amount of chakra used, but if the user is an expert in this technique, it will always be possible to make a fair-sized swamp which would be extremely effective against a great number of enemies or when having to face gigantic creatures like summons.

The final technique he was learning was also an A-rank technique and the one he was currently focusing his attention on as he'd been working on it before he'd even met Jiraiya. The technique was called the Rasengan, one of the two techniques that had been created by his father the Yondaime Hokage. The technique according to his father was shape transformation of one's chakra taken to the highest possible point and was a technique that needed to be learned in steps. The first step was learning how to burst a water balloon by spinning the water inside in multiple directions at once using only the user's chakra, which emphasizes rotation. Jiraiya hadn't told him that in those exact words but that was the gist of it from what he himself had been able to observe and determine. Thanks to his developed sensing abilities he was able to tell that when he had demonstrated it Jiraiya had done that by making several different streams of chakra and rotating all of them in different directions. It had taken him two weeks to get it right to the point that he could burst the balloon within ten seconds. It had taken him another week to get the second stage down which deferred from the first only due to the fact that the ball was rubber meaning that it needed considerably more power to burst it. He was now working on the third step which used a regular balloon full of air which would focus on controlling the highly volatile chakra by not allowing the balloon to burst.

At the moment he had clones scattered about working on the other two techniques that Jiraiya had left him. He himself had worked on them to get a feel for the techniques and after pulling them off on his own a few times had created the clones to work on mastering the techniques. Aside from that Benihime was teaching him more Kido techniques and he would still need to work more on summoning in the month ahead of him. He knew that it was quite rare for people to possess summoning contracts and even rarer for anyone to have multiple contracts. He knew his mother had created the Kitsune contract exclusively for him and was thankful for that fact it was his mother's hope that the contract would help in clearing the air between Konoha and the Kyubi. The Gama contract however Jiraiya had always intended for him to sign and it was also Jiraiya's declaration of the boy being his newest student.

The two clans would prove useful and would cover the others weaknesses. The toads for instance were a battle summons possessing a wide range of abilities, being able to spit water or oil from their mouths as well as utilizing weapons in battle. What is most unusual is that they are one of the few species able to do ninjutsu, and one of the few animals thus far capable of hand signs. They vary greatly in size; ranging from giant summons that tower over trees and can dwarf large rock formations, while others were small enough to ride on someone's head. Simply put the toads were used almost exclusively for battle. Kitsune's he knew made better spies, messengers and scouts especially with their shape shifting ability. Like the toads the Kitsune also varied in size and didn't focus mostly on straight out battle but trickery at least among the younger ones. While some were capable of using elements such as wind most stuck simply to foxfire others used fuinjutsu during combat. His mother as the Kyubi was the only one that towered at such gargantuan heights like Gamabunta while in her demon form at least according to her knowledge. He'd also found that most of the Kitsune were female and he'd only been able to summon two males while he was working on the technique.

He knew even learning just one A-ranked technique in the span of a month was an accomplishment for most shinobi due to their duties. However Naruto wasn't most shinobi, he was the kid that had learned the Kage Bunshin in the span of just a few hours from a scroll of all things. As such learning two A-ranked techniques and a B-ranked didn't seem like such a tall task to him once he put his mind into it. Looking over he could see Ino was also hard at work as his mother was now teaching the girl basic water manipulation. He'd also informed the Yamanaka head that Ino needed to learn something other than her one clan technique before the finals and the man would be coming by later in the day to instruct her. Her match during the preliminaries had shown that her taijutsu had vastly improved thanks to her training and he honestly couldn't wait to see what she would learn within the next month.

* * *

That night Sabaku no Gaara stared out at the full moon above him from his rooftop perch. His thoughts were not on the majestic sight that he beheld but on what he had witnessed during the preliminaries held the previous day. Most of the genin had been trash but there was one that had caught his attention. The redhead Konoha genin Uzumaki Naruto was different than all of the others he wasn't arrogant and he lacked the boastful ignorance and naiveté of many of the others. More than that however he was strong and held power, enough so that he could tell that the leaf genin was definitely not human. Humans were prideful, arrogant and petty creatures that saw only with their emotions. What he had saw was someone was calculating, one who did not let weak human emotions disturb him or influence his actions.

Yes the Uzumaki would make a worthy opponent whose blood would definitely satisfy his mother. He wouldn't be like the weakling humans he killed all the time who couldn't even get him to put forth a little effort. His speed technique whatever it was called would perhaps even get him past his sand shield though he would still be eaten by it regardless of that. He knew the matches for the final tournament would be chosen at random but that hardly mattered to him he would kill all his opponents so that he could face down the Uzumaki who would be helping to show all those present that he did indeed exist. Within the next moment his sand sourged out from his gourd and caught the kunai that had been headed towards the back of his head. He didn't even turn to acknowledge the masked Oto shinobi that quickly popped up and rushed towards him. Instead his sand simply surged and caught him within its embrace quickly surrounding the now struggling fool before crushing down on the fool and dropping the mangled corpse to the unforgiving streets like the trash that he was.

"So that is the sand defense I've heard so much about interesting." Said Sakon as he looked on the scene from an adjacent rooftop.

"Indeed. Still are you sure it was okay for him to die like that; he was Oto after all." Said the Suna jounin named Baki who was the sensei for Gaara's team.

"It's fine. He was a weakling and the weak are expendable." Said Sakon.

"Very well then. I will relay the invasion plans to Kazekage-sama."

With that said the Suna jounin vanished in a whirl of sand. Sakon remained for a few moments longer before he too vanished in a blast of smoke.

* * *

Within his office Sarutobi Hiruzen had all of his most trusted jounin and ANBU captains present and visible. The jounin sensei's of the group of gennin that had begun to be called the 'Rookie Nine' and 'Konoha Twelve' were also in attendance. He had the heads of all of his shinobi clans gathered both major and minor, all that was truly missing was the presence of his so called advisors. The gathered shinobi were nervous as this wasn't the kind old man they had become used to sitting before them, no this was the 'Shinobi no Kami' in all his terrifying glory. Stern eyes looked over the room for several long moments causing many to nearly fidget in nervousness at the sight of those cold pools that he called eyes.

"Last night two of my genin were assaulted within the walls of this very village. The first was Uchiha Sasuke who was targeted by the traitor Orochimaru after having escaped him within the forest of death, the end result was the cursed seal that now resides on his neck. The seal has already been taken care of and sealed off by Jiraiya so it is of no consequence at the moment." At these words Kakashi himself went wide eyed before his entire countenance changed. He stood straight and his single visible eye had become hard while an aura of death began to pour off of him. Hiruzen nodded at the sight recognizing the former ANBU captain that was known as 'Inu' along with many others within the room.

"The second was his teammate Uzumaki Naruto who was the target of an assassination attempt. Naruto managed to defeat the assassin however and they have been given to Ibiki." Continued the man before motioning the scared special jounin to speak.

"Genin Uzumaki was a target for assassination for several reasons. According to the assassin Guren the first was that he was the reason that Sasuke managed to initially escape the implantation of the cursed seal within the Forest of Death during the second exam. The second was that he killed Yakushi Kabuto during the preliminaries who we now know to have been a spy for Oto and more importantly Orochimaru's second in command. The third would be the unveiling of a technique that Orochimaru feared could surpass the Yondaime's Hiraishin no Jutsu which Naruto apparently invented using our forces to aid in its creation over the years." Explained Ibiki

"This assassin must not have been all that good if the brat managed to beat them."

This came from a jounin that Ibiki recognized as Kanden Tekuno. He stood at about 5'9" and had a robust build and shaggy brown hair. He wore the standard uniform including flak jacket with a pair of fingerless gloves. He wore the flak jacket unzipped showing a utility sash underneath which he knew was stocked with several scrolls. Unlike others he knew that Tekuno wasn't saying it as an insult to the boy but to the assassin being beaten at the hands of a rookie gennin.

"Normally you would be right. However Guren was Orochimaru's third and from what I could tell lost due to surprise by the burst of the Kyuubi's chakra Naruto released during the altercation. That surprise was enough for Naruto to regain his sword with which he used to render her Kekki Genkai useless." Informed Ibiki giving several of the gathered individuals food for thought.

"Thanks to her capture we have learned that the two didn't just slip through our barriers but were in fact let in by a member of the barrier team. We've learned that Orochimaru has a benefactor within Konoha one who was not only able to get him through the barrier unnoticed by us but was able to pull the guards off of Uchiha Sasuke momentarily. That investigation led us to the door of a certain council member whom I am not at liberty to name." Finished Ibiki getting a nod from the old man though everyone knew who he spoke of.

"Thanks to Naruto's capture of the assassin however we have learned that there was more at work than we knew. Under Ibiki's ministrations Guren has admitted that there was a planned invasion set to take place on the day of the exam final matches."

As the Sandaime finished the aura of the entire room changed and it was and everyone suddenly realized that they had been summoned not for the meeting they'd expected but for a war briefing. For many it had been a long time since such a thing had happened but they were already adapting to it each of them taking on a similar pose to what Kakashi had already taken showing that everyone within the room was a veteran of the Third Shinobi War.

"The invasion is planned to be a combined assault by Oto and Suna. We have however learned that Guren was part of a team that had assassinated the Kazekage and as we speak Jiraiya is heading out to Suna were he will 'discover' the corpses of the Kazekage and his entourage." Explained Hiruzen.

"I see your planning a double cross." Said Nara Shikaku looking up with hard active eyes.

"Yes. Furthermore Guren was more than willing to part with what she knew of the plans for the invasion especially while Naruto was still watching her." Said the Sandaime.

"She had probably never lost before that I take it. Then having not only lost but come across someone who could render her Kekki Genkai useless must have put a shock in her that you took advantage of." Stated one of the ANBU captains with a 'Tora' mask.

"Indeed. In fact she was personally trained by Orochimaru in the usage of her Kekki Genkai which is apparently of the quite rare elemental variety known as Shoton." Explained Hiruzen. Everyone understood that notion there. Elemental Kekki Genkai were nightmares on the battlefield and seemed to make even novice shinobi into dangerous foes.

"It was probably easy for Naruto. He already has experience fighting such a bloodline having faced Momochi Zabuza's apprentice Haku in Nami no Kuni who had possessed the Hyoton Kekki Genkai." Said Kakashi thoughtfully.

"Indeed it was due to that encounter that Naruto knew that his sword would be able to cut through the crystal. In fact it was the same technique which he used to kill Kabuto that allowed Naruto to prevail." Said Ibiki.

"That's beside the point at the moment." Said Hiruzen successfully bringing everyone's focus back to himself and the matter at hand.

"There is another problem. Just before you all arrived I received a missive that the Sandaime Tsuchikage will also be attending the final tournament. Unfortunately I cannot turn him away due to one of his gennin making it to the finals."

"Great that means we have to not only beat back the invasion but win the battle decisively on all fronts." Said Shikaku.

"Correct. Onoki may be a prideful bastard but he's not a fool. If he sees even a shred of weakness in us we could be looking at a real war by the time the invasion has ended and that old man has reached Iwa." Said Hiruzen.

"So we have to worry about that with the Shukaku around." Said Ibiki causing many to tense up.

"The Shukaku, here?" questioned Asuma.

"Yes. According to Jiraiya the Shukaku was sealed within Sabaku no Gaara and he has the ability to release the bijuu in full." Said Hiruzen darkly.

"Well fuck." Said Tekuno summing up the thoughts of the various shinobi with his wording.

"None of you have to worry about that Naruto will handle Gaara during the matches." Said Hiruzen.

"Um aren't you putting a lot on that kids shoulders? I mean I know he's strong but he's still just a genin." Said Kurenai.

"True. However he is a genin that Jiraiya has taken an interest in. He has already learned to summon and can summon one of the 'big three' toads and that was on his first attempt. By the time the day comes he'll be quite prepared for the challenge. Besides he has a few tricks I've made him keep hidden from everyone." Explained Hiruzen shocking many of them including Kakashi.

"I will ask all of you to increase the training of your clans. Unfortunately even the younger ones may be forced to shed their innocence by the days end." Said Hiruzen turning towards the clan heads who nodded their understanding.

"Tekuno-kun I'll need your input on something." Said Hiruzen before handing over a scroll that was on his desk to the jounin.

"That scroll contains all of Naruto's pranking ideas that he had submitted to me for safekeeping upon his graduation to aid in the future defense of our village. I'm sure you can come up with ways to make them combat applicable."

Tekuno looked at the scroll with wide eyes as did many others. While most would never admit it out loud for fear of others hearing it Naruto's pranks had often been of trap making genius. Tekuno himself was appreciative as a trap specialist as like Naruto he too looked at the world with a different set of eyes. He had often commented that if Naruto had been serious he could've killed many of the villagers several times over before they had even known what happened just by simple substitutions. Even better Naruto went at it with the imagination that only a child possessed which made his pranks all the more potent as he didn't see anything in a linear fashion. For all intents and purposes the Sandaime may as well have just handed over the holy grail of trap making and Tekuno was giddy about tearing the bad boy open and learning all of its inner most secrets.

"Tekuno-kun, do not lose that scroll. It contains details about the entirety of the village with the exception of the training grounds and the forests surrounding us. He has plans in there he's never even used, plans for clan compounds, ANBU headquarters, this building, even the tunnels and bunkers for civilian evacuation. It possesses times for guard rotations that he observed for all those areas and the weaknesses he could've exploited. I have just quite literally handed you the keys to the village, Naruto's plans for the village's improvements as Hokage."

Tekuno now looked at the scroll with new eyes as did everyone else in attendance. That a child had come up with something like that within a military village said a lot, that he'd actually handed it over to the Hokage for safekeeping instead of keeping it to himself and hidden said even more. It told many quite clearly that the boy had never been an idiot but that his attention had been better served elsewhere at least as far as he was concerned. For the clan heads it was an eye opener, many had thought that the Uzumaki had feared taking them on but this proved otherwise saying he could have he just hadn't felt like it at that point in time. Seeing his point made the Sandaime picked up another scroll and handed it to 'Tora' after Tekuno had stepped back.

"Within that scroll is the description of a series of unmapped underground tunnels within the village. Naruto also gave that to me believing that it led to an underground ANBU training center. In truth it is the Ne base of operations that we've been searching for all this time. Take it and wipe them out; call Inu and Iruka out of retirement and take them with you; we don't need a rogue element within our village. Also if you can find proof solidly linking them to Danzo or any of his doings collect it." Said Hiruzen.

"Hai." said Tora before stepping back into his place.

"Asuma." Called the man causing his son to step forward.

"Take this scroll to the Daimyo which will explain the situation. It is for his eyes only as it contains knowledge and information that he must know should I fall in battle or am out of action for any prolonged amount of time." Said Hiruzen getting a solid nod from the man.

"Shikaku this final scroll contains what we know of the Invasion plans. I trust with this you can come up with a counter offensive." Said Hiruzen handing the scroll to Shikaku as his head strategist.

"We are now under war time protocol and we will remain so until the threat is dealt with. I expect all of you to increase your training to reflect that. Good luck and I hope to see you all when everything is said and done."

With that the meeting was over and the gathered individuals took it for the dismissal that it was. As one they turned and marched out of the office doors with much on their collective minds. A few minutes later the room began filling with chuunin and Sarutobi prepared himself to begin again.

* * *

Reiryoku is a power aligned with the spiritual sensitivity and willpower of the user. It is used by the Shinigami and given Naruto to provide power for his various feats and to effectively channel the powers of his zanpakuto. It can also be used to cast Kido, the techniques created by the Shinigami. Reiryoku can even be coalesced into a physical form and thrown or shot as a projectile. As a display of potency, spiritual beings have the ability to incapacitate the opponent's movement and simultaneously frighten them, by means of dispersing Reiryoku into the air. The aforementioned ability is known as Reiatsu (Spiritual Pressure), possessing power that could be literally felt within the atmosphere.

Reiatsu is the spiritual force or pressure that the Shinigami's reiryoku creates when released. The Shinigami had taken this ability to the point that once exerted all under its pressure would be frozen to their spot only barely even able to breathe. It was not like killing intent which humans used and had created which was nothing more than exerting their sheer desire to kill to those around them which can sometimes produce paralysis through fear and induce visions of death in the victim. Reiatsu however was much more efficient and much more devastating effects than killing intent. At its lowest defensive level Reiatsu can cause fear in an opponent to the same degree as killing intent. At another level it can stun those who come within the presence of someone with a high level spiritual being so much so that it can knock the wind right out of people, barely remain on their feet, and even send people to their knees.

When a Spiritual being of high reiatsu chooses to they can paralyze an opponent just by focusing pressure through their stare and a high level of spiritual pressure can make an opponent feel as though they are being attacked though nothing is physically happening to them. Offensively just the release of a high enough level of reiatsu is enough to cause damage to an opponent or effect ones surroundings. Reiatsu is also capable of being channeled through a blade allowing a stronger attack, and even the releasing of shockwaves. The Shinigami specifically could use his reiatsu to kill anyone in too close a proximity to him. His reiatsu was so high that it could reduce others to ash simply by him approaching them.

Naruto listened to the explanation intently as Benihime went about explaining the usage of what she would be teaching him. He had unknowingly been exercising his reiatsu if only in small amounts since Nami no Kuni. The effect of his reiatsu would simply make it seem like a weight was pushing down on those around him and though still capable of movement they'd feel as if they were moving through a body of water. His releases of it until now had all been minor and unconscious reactions to whatever had set him off at the time. What Benihime was going to do now however was teach him how to consciously use it to his advantage.

She also had reasons for going over the ability now. His reiryoku reserves were growing steadily as was the effect of his reiatsu and it was only a matter of time before it started affecting those around him. She had no idea what that would do to people but it could do anything from slowly kill those around him to granting them powers they were not supposed to have. The Shinigami she knew was not one of the nicer deities and would kill any that intruded upon his domain. Naruto however had been given the Kami's permission and blessing otherwise she was positive that she would not be with him now. She also knew that Naruto was a highly protective individual and if those he was closed to die because of him he would be far from happy.

That isn't to say that she cared about whether or not the pathetic fools lived or died. Her concern was Naruto and she had the strangest feeling in her gut that for some of them he might do something stupid if they died. The saying that Kami looked after children and fools didn't really matter either as she knew that the Shinigami just didn't give a fuck he'd cut down man, woman, child, genius or idiot if that person dared to cross him. So yes, she would just do the easy thing and teach him how to control that vast well of power that he held and then one day when he was ready she would lean him towards the final form of power she possessed, and she had no doubt in her mind that it would be a glorious day.

AN: That's it the chapters done. It's a bit shorter than I was initially going to make it but its a filler chapter so I don't really care. Next chapter I'll start up with the good stuff once more and everyone will finally be able to see what Naruto can really do within his village and what their ignorance may have cost them (insert maniacal laughter). Anyway thanks for reading and please review, till next time LATER.


	15. Chapter 15

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 15: The Tournament

AN: Hello all and happy turkey day. Firstly thanks as always goes to all those who reviewed the last chapter. For those who cares this chapter as titled is all about the third exam, or rather the first round of it. Also for those of you who don't know I'm thinking of making a sequel to this later on down the road but we'll see where this takes us first. That said here's the new chapter.

Start Now:

The Chunin Exam Finals were always a much anticipated event. Not only did it bring in a lot of business for those who one but also for the hosting village. For those chunin who were assigned the task of guarding the villages main gates there was never a better time to be assigned the duty than on the days lead up to the third exam. Because of the popularity of the exams main tournament people came from all over to witness the event and as such the week leading up had become known as festival week. Due to the influx of visitors coming to see the tournament the shops always had an influx of business and due to the festive mood the Sandaime had turned the entire thing into a festival. For the two chunin guarding the gates now however they were both hard at work and yet were still in shock due to just the sheer number of nobles they had met from minor lords to full on Daimyo's.

However none had prepared them for the one who walked up next, the woman appeared more like a goddess trapped in human form than anything else. She stood at about 5'5" and appeared to be about 18 and had long bright red hair that was tied into six braids that fell to near her ankles looking more like tails than anything else. Her eyes were larger round violet orbs much different than the slanted eyes most people from Konoha possessed, eyes that regarded all around her with disinterest. She was slender but toned and wore a white skirt that stopped in a diagonal fashion with one end at the knee and one end a bit above it leaving her nicely toned legs in plain view for those around to salivate over.

The shirt she wore covered just the upper portion of her torso and it too was white, it seemed much like a kimono in appearance, yet possessed only a single sleeve that stopped just past her elbow. Her other shoulder and arm were bare and the top stopped just under her breast where a series of brown bands were seemingly holding it together while the rest of her torso was in plain view, allowing all to make note of the navel ring she possessed and enhancing the rather proportional breast she had as well. Other than that she wore a pair of fingerless brown gloves while her right arm, the one without the sleeve held a gold circlet about halfway between her shoulder and elbow there was also a gold band around the same leg this one reminding many of a garter while it pinned the lower portion of her skirt to her leg. She also wore some kind of white material around each of her shins which had brown accents at the ends and led to a pair of white tabi and brown zori sandals.

"Welcome to Konoha miss; are you here for the exam?" Spoke the female chunin as her male counterpart was otherwise occupied with ogling the woman.

"Yes." Spoke the woman her tone kind yet disinterested and the kunoichi couldn't blame her not with the rather blatant stare she was receiving.

"Very well, may I see your papers please?"

Upon being granted the papers the chunin felt her eyes widen upon seeing the name only to receive a raised eyebrow from the woman. Quickly seeing everything was in order however the chunin marked down her entrance in the village and allowed her in. While making her way through the village she took note of the activity but simply walked past it all towards the stadium she was directed towards leaving gawking men and jealous women in her wake.

'_Kurama show me what you can do._' Thought the woman with a glint in her eyes.

* * *

Within a booth at the stadium Sarutobi Hiruzen looked down within the crowd with hard and focused eyes. He knew that the enemy was here posing as civilians and that only made him focus harder on maintaining his composure, it wouldn't do to show his hand to early. Still he couldn't help but hate the current situation, the thought of his village becoming a battlefield enough to put an even harder look in his eyes. He could only be thankful that they had arrived on scene when they did otherwise Naruto may have killed Guren and they'd have been caught with their proverbial pants down. A cough from behind had him turning just in time to see the short form of the Sandaime Tsuchikage walk up wearing the white and brown robes of his office followed by a pair of guards he recognized from the last war. For a moment Onoki was surprised to be on the receiving end of those 'I'm in the middle of a war' eyes before they were replaced with the kind gaze of an old man.

"Ah Tsuchikage-dono, welcome." Said Hiruzen

"Hokage-dono." Greeted Onoki in return

"I trust the journey here wasn't too troubling." Said Hiruzen motioning for the man to take the seat beside him.

"It was a necessary evil to get away from all those blasted papers." Grumbled Onoki and Hiruzen nodded in understanding.

"I trust the matches will at least be interesting." Said Onoki.

"They should be. I don't know who's facing whom however. I made the proctor wait to do the drawings until just before the matches were set to begin.

Before anything else could be said the two old men turned their attention to the entrance of the private both where another robed figure was making his appearance. This one was wore white and green robes with a hat signifying him as the Kazekage accompanied by two guards of his own. Hiruzen had to actually fight to not narrow his eyes at the sight of the figure that he knew was in all actuality Orochimaru in disguise but managed to maintain his composure and not attack him outright. Orochimaru himself paused in midstep upon spotting the Tsuchikage but pushed the surprise of his presence to the side

"Ah Kazekage-dono I trust your journey wasn't too troubling." Said Hiruzen as the man approached.

"Not at all Hokage-dono. In fact I think it's a good thing the exams were here, I don't think you'd have made the journey as easily at this point. Perhaps it's time you selected a new successor." Said Orochimaru causing the two elder Kage to narrow their eyes slightly at the insult.

"Oh I've already chosen a successor; they're just too young to take over as of now. However I still have some years left in me for the job. What about you Tsuchikage-dono we are the same age are you thinking about retirement?" Said Hiruzen turning to the other elder.

"And let some young punk with delusions of grandeur ruin what I've managed to build since I took over, I think not." Said Onoki with a snort.

"Well now that we are all here I believe we can get started." Said Hiruzen as he stood to his feet and approached the railing.

"Welcome everyone to the Chunin Exam Main Tournament." Called Hiruzen his voice echoing thanks to a voice amplification technique.

"Before you are the twelve genin that have managed to push this far and make it here before you. On behalf of my fellow Kage, the Sandaime Tsuchikage of Iwakagakure no Sato and the Yondaime Kazekage of Sunagakure no Sato I the Sandaime Hokage declare this tournament officially started." With that the Sandaime stepped back and took his seat with the crowd roaring in excitement.

On the ground Shiranui Genma, the new proctor having replaced Hayate looked at the gathered genin all of which were thankfully on time. Reaching into his vest he produced a single scroll which he proceeded to unravel under the stares of the genin.

"Alright the matches were decided twenty minutes ago by random drawing-. Take a look and see where you stand." Said Genma holding it out for all to see.

"Um proctor I'd like to forfeit now." Said Ino catching everyone's attention.

"Are you sure?" questioned Genma.

"Hai, even though I trained a lot for this I don't have anything that would help me against that guy." Said Ino getting a nod.

"Very well." Said Genma marking it on the scroll before turning to face the Kages.

"The first round shall have five matches. The first will be Hyuga Hinata vs. Tenten; followed by Uchiha Sasuke vs. Rock Lee. The third match will be Aburame Shino vs. Kankuro, followed by Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru. Match five will be Uzumaki Naruto vs. Ankoku Karasu. Gaara advances do to Yamanaka Ino's forfeit." Said Genma; his voice echoing across the entire stadium due to the voice amplification jutsu.

In the stands the higher level ninja of Konoha all nodded at Ino having forfeit against Gaara. Even if she didn't know the depth of the situation she had recognized it would be a battle she couldn't win regardless and had thus forfeit. While most would frown on such a thing sometimes you had to know when not to fight and for that fact alone many silently thought that Ino was ready for promotion. Still she would have to prove it at the next chance when she would hopefully have a better matchup. Others were also commenting on the various match-ups while many others were busy making bets for the first round matches.

"Now then I need everyone but those fighting first to head up to the fighters box." Said Genma

As the others left the remaining two kunoichi turned to face each other. Tenten hadn't changed at all since the preliminaries though she could see that Hinata had. While she wasn't as good at reading people as Neji she could see that Hinata was more confident in herself now than she had been last month. She was no longer slouching and averting her gaze as if trying to hide but she stood at her full height and looked her dead in the eye. That didn't matter though she'd been Neji's teammate for an entire year already and had a pretty good idea about how to go about fighting a Hyuga.

"First match, Hyuga Hinata vs. Tenten. Hajime!"

Immediately Tenten had sent a kunai at the other girls face while leaping back to get some distance. Hinata knocked it off course with a shuriken of her own activating her Byakugan in the next instant only to be forced to dodge a barrage of shuriken Tenten launched at her. Leaping up into the air Tenten sent a pair of kunai flying at the occupied girl only to witness an act of flexibility as the girl bent so far back that they flew right over her before she righted herself in the next instant settling into her stance.

'_I don't get it. Neji said she was a weakling, so how is it she's managing to keep up with me?_' thought the budding weapons prodigy.

"You're different than before. I know a month ago you wouldn't have been able to keep up with that barrage let alone get through it unscathed."

"A month ago I was less confident in myself and my abilities thanks in no small part to Neji-nii-san." Returned Hinata her breathing the only indicator of the toll that had been put on her so far.

"Well Neji is a genius." Retorted Tenten.

"True and as a genius things come to him easily. He has no clue about the struggle that most people go through in order to do what comes to him so easily. Instead he is content to mock people for their efforts in hopes of bringing down their confidence so that they hate their lot in life just as much as he does." Said Hinata.

"What are you talking about? Does this have anything to do with that marking on his head?" questioned Tenten.

"It is a conversation for another time. We are still in the exam." Reminded Hinata.

"Then allow me to end it. I was saving this attack for Neji but I can let you feel its bite first." With those words Tenten withdrew a pair of scrolls and placed them down vertically so that they stood on the ground once done she began a chain of five seals.

"**Soshoryu (Twin Rising Dragons)**"

With that the two scrolls shot up into the air creating a trail of smoke until they formed the silhouettes of two dragons that were circling the girl before she leapt high up into the air. As she reached her desired position she began to spin in place so that she looked like nothing more than one of those spinning children's toys. In the next instant however many eyes widened and mouths dropped as a rain of metal death was sent from her position so fast that it looked like nothing more than flashing lights.

"**Shugohakke Rokujūyon Sho (Protection of the Eight Triagrams: Sixty-Four Palms)**"

In an instant Hinata had begun her technique the beams of chakra coming from her hands and creating the dome of chakra that had been unveiled by her during the preliminaries. As the weapons hit they could do nothing but fall to the ground showing everything from kunai and shuriken, to swords, axes, picks, and many other sharp and pointy objects of death. Finally the barrage of metal death came to a halt and a few moments later the dome died revealing the panting form of Hyuga Hinata. Smirking despite herself Tenten pulled her arms back shocking everyone when the weapons picked themselves up out of the ground thanks to the newly revealed chakra strings connecting them to her. In the next instant they were flying towards Hinata once more only to stall just as they were about to hit her as what appeared to be a wall of chakra appeared in front of the girl.

"**Hakkesho Kaiten**"

With that exclamation Hinata began to spin and yet another dome of chakra made its appearance to surround her deflecting the weapons away from the girl once more. Tenten's eyes widened however as several of the weapons were sent flying right back at her and struck true. As a result her connection with the weapons broke before she herself fell to the ground, once that was done the dome of chakra collapsed revealing a wobbly Hinata before she too hit the ground. Seeing this Genma moved over and checked the two girls over before nodding to himself.

"Due to the fact that both are unable to continue I declare this match a draw."

* * *

'_She learned the Kaiten in a month_.' Thought Neji in shock from his place in the stands.

"Father what was that move?" questioned a young girl.

Hyuga Hiashi looked down at his youngest daughter, a young girl of seven years old named Hanabi. Until a month ago she had been his favored child as the moves of the clans taijutsu style Jyuken came easy to her and she was quite confident in herself and her abilities unlike her elder sister, who lost every match he held between the two of them. Now however he could see the kindness that Hinata held so much like her mother that she couldn't bear the thought of harming her younger sister and would rather take a beating instead.

"Shugohakke Rokujūyon Sho it is a move Hinata created herself. Unlike the rest of us Hinata's body type is not suited to the Jyuken; it is too restrictive on her. Instead Hinata is built like your mother and thus was gifted with her flexibility. That move is one that exploits that flexibility creating both an absolute defense on par with the Kaiten and due to the cutting nature of the chakra beams an effective offensive technique as well."

"Would that make her better than Neji-nii?" questioned the girl.

"That is complicated. Neji is indeed a genius in the Hyuga arts and in that way he is superior. However at the same time his genius prevents him from the creativity that your sister has displayed. In a way one could say Neji learns what others have created easily and Hinata would rather do the creating. This would make Hinata what we called gifted." Explained Hiashi.

"And what about me?" questioned the girl.

"That is something you alone must determine for yourself. As your sister has proven today in front of both the clan and the village as a whole it is not about what others perceive of you, but about what you perceive of yourself that matters most in the end."

Though the words were directed to his daughter many of the Hyuga had heard the words he'd spoken and in time those words would be repeated throughout the clan. Though it was small and unnoticed the change in the Hyuga had begun.

* * *

While the two girls were carried off Naruto was deep in thought. While he knew and was slightly worried by the pending invasion his main concern was Gaara. From what he'd been able to gather under the Kazekage's direction the redhead had been driven to the brink of madness. He himself knew that the other boy was nowhere near as insane as he led people to believe; no he was still reasonably sane and had come to the conclusion that only killing would prove his existence, thanks to the mass assassination techniques. While that would be problematic he could use such a thing for his benefit as he'd more often than not want to fight only the strongest of opponents. With that thought in mind he moved over to stand beside the red headed Suna nin; though it was a small action many in the booth noticed it and was now paying direct attention especially at the casual way he stood.

"Your teammate looks a little jumpy. However I'd like to see him fight so please make sure he doesn't be foolish and forfeit." Said Naruto calmly.

"And why would I care to do what you ask of me?" questioned Gaara.

In the next instant his eyes widened as a sudden power escaped the blond, one that Gaara recognized instantly as did the two other Suna nin who now looked at the blond in undisguised fear.

"You and I are a lot alike Gaara. Do this for me and when we do battle I will fight you at my true power. I think it would be quite a show to have in front of all of these people; one that none of these peons would ever forget. To make things more sporting however I won't even use my sword." Said Naruto calmly.

"You speak boldly Uzumaki but you must still get past me." Said Karasu causing both Naruto and Gaara to look at him with their bored eyes.

"I've already seen your trick. I don't know how you did it but your touch was enough to create that explosion that took out the Oto-nin. I don't need a month to strategize for such a trick." Said Naruto dismissively.

"Very well. I will do as you ask and offer mother your blood." Said Gaara emotionlessly.

"Kukaku developed a blood fetish?" questioned Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Kukaku?" questioned Gaara.

"Her name. Surely you knew that it wasn't what your village called her. Regardless I look forward to our match" Said Naruto before walking off.

"I'm curious why have you changed your appearance Uzumaki?" questioned Gaara stopping the blond for a moment.

"This is my original appearance. I merely have the ability to change it at will." Said Naruto before continuing his walk with hands in pockets.

* * *

Once the two girls were collected Genma took a few moments to allow the cheering crowds to calm before calling for the next two combatants. Out of the fighters tunnel emerged the figures of Uchiha Sasuke and Rock Lee. The Uchiha now wore a black one piece outfit with short sleeves and legs with a high collar. He had small arm bands wrapped around his left arm and both legs atop of bandages while his right arm held the bandages but no belts. Each of his arms also possessed arm warmers, while a large version of the Uchiha crest was on his back. Lee however still unfortunately wore his one piece green spandex suite and orange leg warmers.

"Match two; Uchiha Sasuke vs. Rock Lee; Hajime."

With that Genma leapt back and just in time as the two boys immediately dashed towards each other engaging in a fierce taijutsu battle. As the two fought they were mere blurs to many that were watching however many could also see that Lee was actually winning the exchange of blows blocking or dodging all of Sasuke's attacks and managing to slip his own through. Breaking away from his opponent Sasuke sped through seals and spewed out a large fireball only for Lee to surprise everyone by running straight forward and jumping clear over it coming down with a heel drop that Sasuke only barely managed to slip away from. In the next instant Sasuke was sent flying as he was on the receiving end of a kick from Lee hitting him with all the force of a sledgehammer. Recovering despite the pain he managed to flip himself so that he would land on his feet though he went skidding for several feet.

'_He's fast and strong, I can't afford to hold anything back with this guy_.' Thought Sasuke as he stood to his feet his eyes changed to that of his second level Sharingan.

"So that is the Sharingan I've heard so much about." Said Lee.

"If you know that then you know you will lose to these eyes." Said Sasuke smirking.

Suddenly Sasuke found himself flying backwards before he hit the ground and tumbled further back. As he regained himself he looked up to find Lee standing calmly in the spot he had previously occupied in his ready stance.

'_What was that, I couldn't even track him? It had to have been some kind of jutsu.'_ Thought Sasuke with narrowed eyes.

With that thought he himself charged forward only for Lee to parry his strike and bury his fist within his stomach at the last instant. At least that's what would have happened if he hadn't been able to put his arm in place to block the hit, instead he simply went tumbling back once again.

"Uchiha-san please stop holding back. I know you can move faster than that." Said Lee with a frown.

Sasuke smirked hearing this before to the eyes of most he suddenly vanished followed by Lee a moment later. What followed was a series of fast paced blows that only the higher level shinobi were able to keep up with along with those who were simply used to fast paced combat. When the two returned to the sight of everyone else it was to see Sasuke flipping thorugh the air before expelling several small but fast fireballs. Lee in response began back flipping managing to dodge all the balls of fire. As the two landed Sasuke could be seen panting heavily and covered in sweat as well as a fair number of bruises. Lee however was barely breathing hard at all much to the Uchiha's annoyance.

* * *

"It's over." Said Shikamaru as he moved back from the railing.

"Yes, it seems victory is Lee-san's in this instance." Said Shino with his arms crossed.

"What are you two talking about the fights still going!" exclaimed Ino.

"No it's over. Sasuke was using his chakra to keep up with Lee's speed. Doing that in compination with using his Sharingan just to see him moving and using jutsu when he could; he's running on empty." Said Naruto calmly.

"And Lee hasn't even broken a sweat." Said Shikamaru.

* * *

"How the hell are you doing this, negating all of my genjutsu as if they're nothing?" questioned Sasuke

"Our sensei's have been rivals since they were our ages. Many times Kakashi-san has used his Sharingan to cast genjutsu on Gai-sensei during their spars. Because of this Gai-sensei had to develop a way to combat against the Sharingan. Because of the possibility of our matching up against each other Gai-sensei taught me this method.' Explained Lee causing Sasuke's eyebrow to twitch.

"Get stronger Sasuke-kun and when you can keep up with my speed for real we will stroke our flames of youths by fighting again." Said Lee before he blurred and appeared behind Sasuke knocking him out with a chop to the neck.

"Winner Rock Lee."

Despite the fact that the crowd favorite had lost many still cheered simply due to the fact that it was a well fought match. Those that were acting as judges were also already writing down their critiques of the match. It was simply an unlucky draw on Sasuke's part, he'd gone up against an opponent who was not only more experienced, but faster, stronger, and surprisingly had been able to weaken the affect his Sharingan would have on the match. Lee however was simply too well prepared to match up against Sasuke and as such they would withhold judgment until later. As the two were clearing away or rather being cleared on the Uchiha's part Genma took the time to speak up.

"Match three Aburame Shino vs. Kankuro."

Initially as Naruto predicted Kankuro moved to forfeit however one fierce glare from Gaara caused him to grit his teeth and head down. As the two went down Shino took the moment to empty his mind of all distractions and enter the battle in a clean slate, as was the Aburame way. As the two boys made their way down Naruto hid a smirk, it had been a gamble to approach Gaara but one that had evidently paid off. He knew of all of the genin present Shino was the most capable of taking care of Kankuro, as even he without Shunpo would probably only last so long. It wasn't that he couldn't take Kankuro it's that he doesn't have the patience for a long drawn out battle which Shino had in spades. At the same time he knew that as children of the Kazekage all three of the Suna genin would be key in the coming battle and their capture would go a long way in helping in the negotiating phase for peace, this of course was assuming that Jiraiya's trip to Suna had been for naught. It had nothing to do with the fact that he had placed a bet on the fight, nothing to do with that at all, he thought whistling innocently.

"Aburame Shino vs. Kankuro; Hajime!" exclaimed Genma snapping the blond out of his thoughts.

"Heh, I'll give you one last chance to walk away or I'll end you." Said Kankuro placing his bandaged package on the ground.

Shino said nothing however and instead allowed the bugs that dwelled within his body to make their appearance. In an instant Kankuro acted and his puppet had burst from the bandages and dashed at him swinging one of its four arms at him with a blade emerging from the bottom of its arm. Leaping away Shino managed to avoid it only for the puppet's mouth to open firing a pair of kunai that he was unable to dodge. As the blades struck his stomach Shino burst apart revealing himself to have been a bug clone. Wide eyed in surprise it was only instinct that had Kankuro ducking down just as Shino passed over him having leapt from the tree's only barely missing with a clothesline.

"Interesting; you used your insects to create a clone enabling you to create an opening to attack from behind. Not bad." Commented Kankuro in begrudging respect.

"You use a puppet to attack from a distance, which leads me to believe you can't handle close range combat. Why, because you need to concentrate in order to do so, essentially leaving you wide open." Said Shino in return.

"You seem to have already caught on to the weakness of long ranged combatants. However I will show you how we're supposed to be in a real fight; I'll show you, the terror of Karasu."

With those words from Kankuro his puppet Karasu raised up one of its arms before the entire forearm raised up revealing a hollow cylinder tube. Before Shino could react a ball was launched out of the hole and slammed into him before exploding engulfing him in smoke. Immediately Shino leapt out registering the smoke to have actually been poisoned gas, yet found that Kankuro was nowhere to be found.

'_That couldn't be the end of it. He's preparing something.'_ Thought Shino calmly.

At the same time Karasu appeared behind him and lashed out only for him to once more burst into a swarm of bugs. Immediately the bugs swarmed the puppet rendering it immobile much to Kankuro's frustration. However that wasn't enough as he went wide eyed seeing that the bugs despite binding his puppet were actually crawling along the chakra strings that connected them which would lead them right to him which forced him to cut his connection by severing the strings. Shino seeing this reacted quickly to finish his task only for Karasu to turn it's head to face him.

'_Heh, you were careless. I reconnected a string in an instant a simple task for a puppeteer. Of course Karasu's body is full of weapons, it's a walking booby trap_.' Thought Kankuro

As this thought passed through him Karasu's head launched itself away from the body, mouth opening revealing a giant needle aiming right for Shino's head. Kankuro smirked awaiting the killing blow only for the puppet's head to fall short. Wide eyed in surprise he raised his hand up to see several bugs on each of his fingers, surprising him in that he hadn't even noticed them reaching him. Suddenly he screamed and fell from his perch as he found himself swarmed as more descended on him from behind.

"WHAT THE HELL? How the fuck did these things get on me!" demanded the teen as he struggled to free himself.

"The ones that were attacking the puppet were only a distraction. While you were focused on dealing with them you didn't realize there was one on your back. I have since been controlling them, directing them towards you." Said Shino in his monotone voice.

"What?" said Kankuro.

"When I attacked you before I purposely missed, I placed the bug on you at that moment." Said Shino.

"But how could you know where I was with just one bug?" questioned Kankuro.

"The Aburame outside of battle are a tracking clan. Our female bugs are particularly useful, you see their scent is nearly non-detectible. In fact only the males of the species can detect and trace it, though the males do have the stronger scent. It is that one on your head." Explained Shino however despite the impressiveness of his actions his body chose that moment to collapse leaving him grounded just as Kankuro was.

"Heh it's about time that poison kicked in. Despite the small amount that you breathed in it's still rather potent, it was only a matter of time." Said Kankuro with a smirk.

"Due to the fact neither are able to continue, I declare this match a draw." Called Genma making his presence known.

* * *

As the two boys were cleared from the field those in the stands were discussing the last match and dissecting the strategies the two had used. For the leaf ninja seeing a puppeteer in action was actually quite rare and this had made the match even more interesting. The judges themselves were impressed with the two boys and many took down notes on their thoughts about their battle. At the same time many of those in attendance were complaining quite vocally not due to the match but due to the outcome as the odds of a draw had been a hundred to one and as such a lot of people had lost money, just as they had with the first match.

"That's one impressive kid you've got there Kurenai. With that performance I'd be surprised if he didn't make chunin." Said Asuma

"You don't think they'll hold his time active against him?" questioned Kurenai.

"Not in the way you're thinking. They won't let him lead missions right away, instead he'll spend some more time learning under his seniors until they think he's ready and he has more experience under his belt. That is of course if he takes that route, as he can always stick with you." Said Asuma causing her to relax a bit.

Elsewhere the remaining rookies were also discussing the fight. While Sakura still found the whole living with bugs bit weird she had to admit that Shino was strong, stronger than most had gave him credit for. Kiba of course knew this to be true already as his teammate and merely explained that Shino had placed were he did purposely so that he would blend in as he felt a true ninja should. Aburame Shibi however said nothing and merely stood to tend to his son, for the coming battle it would be for the best if he saved the medic-nin the trouble.

"Well I wouldn't have predicted that one." Said Onoki with a wry smirk.

"Oh?" questioned the Kazekage.

"Those Aburame are vicious and poison rarely if ever works on one. In fact I'd say it's only due to his age that the boy succumbed to it. If he was older and more experienced he'd have probably walked away fine." Said the Tsuchikage thoughtfully.

"Young Kankuro was good though. I haven't seen a puppeteer that young with such skill in quite a while." Commented Hiruzen.

"You're right about that. I'd say the last one like him was that brat Sasori." Said Onoki causing the Kazekage to flinch slightly which neither of the other two Kage's missed.

The next match was the slowest and longest of the entire tournament. The battle between Shikamaru and Temari had been one between strategist putting mind against mind to see whose was stronger. Despite the extremely slow start and Shikamaru's reluctance people quickly began to be pulled into the battle simply by how interesting it was to see the two pit strategies up against each other constantly. From his position in the Kage booth Hiruzen likened it to a game of chess with each player taking their time and unfolding their strategy slowly before they would spring the traps that would declare the winner. Though initially on the defensive Shikamaru had managed to quickly for him change that around and put Temari on the defensive forcing her to dodge his shadow bind attempts constantly.

For most that knew him it was a real shocker to see Shikamaru in battle. The guy was a slacker and yet to see that same lazy ass now had said that like Shino and Naruto there was much more to him than what many had guessed. Naruto himself watched almost entranced taking in every detail of the battle for later dissection and hopefully replication. Finally however Shikamaru managed to trap Temari cleverly using the damaged terrain to his advantage.

"Well I forfeit." Said Shikamaru with a yawn much to the shock of the entire stadiums with the exceptions of the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clan members in attendance.

"Excuse me." Said Temari blinking owlishly.

"Well it's simple as I said I don't really care for becoming a chunin or not. In truth I have about two hundred plans I could've enacted as well but I'm actually running low on chakra. In fact I can probably only hold you for about another ten seconds. There's also the fact that going forward means going up against Lee and I honestly won't do something so overly troublesome." Explained Shikamaru finishing just as his shadow retracted from Temari's. That done he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked off with a bored look taking over his features.

"Right then, winner by forfeit Temari." Said Genma.

While most were booing Shikamaru for forfeiting many others were actually complimenting him on his strategy. Everyone knew that he had effectively won the match as soon as Temari was captured by his shadow especially as if he'd been part of a team she'd have been taken down by one of those team members. Elsewhere within the stands the red head woman sighed in boredom as she continued to watch the matches. While she had come to see the exam she in truth had only come to see one genin in particular and all the others were just filler as far as she was concerned, interesting true but still filler as far as her mind went. Such thoughts were put on hold as another took the seat to her right which was odd considering she had paid for her privacy. Glancing to the right she was greeted to the sight of another red headed woman.

"Well I thought I felt your energy in the air." Said Kushina as she settled down.

"I wished to see what he was capable of before meeting him." spoke the woman.

"Well then watch closely dear, you are in for a surprise." Said Kushina with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

* * *

There had been a short intermission before they were called long enough for people to run to the betting booths and find seats once more mostly because the match had lasted a good two hours. As the two boys made their way down after being called and stood before Genma a tense silence came over the entirety of the stadium. It was no secret that there was no love lost between Iwa and Konoha, in fact their rivalry was so intense that many often likened it to that of the Uchiha and Senju clan's rivalry. In fact it was safe to say that people had come more to see this match than for the Uchiha's match simply due to the quite historical rivalry. From his position on the ground between the two Genma could tell that the mood of the stadium did not affect these two in the slightest. Instead each of them watched the other with either an analytical gaze or a bored one.

"Fifth Match: Ankoku Karasu vs. Uzumaki Naruto; Hajime!"

As Genma announced the start and leapt out of the way Karasu charged forward only for Naruto to dodge around his initial lunge the end result leaving them occupying the others previous spot. Undeterred Karasu launched himself right back at him lashing out with strikes that Naruto dodged around with such skill that it made it seem casual. Finally he went for one more attack and as Naruto slid around him both came to a halt with their backs facing each other.

"Curious; why do you not carry your sword?" questioned Karasu as he turned to face the blond.

"Against those I face today using Benihime is unnecessary and cruel." Said the blond calmly.

"I don't believe that. No I think you are afraid. You have no clue of what my ability is and as such fear coming in too close." Said Karasu

"You misunderstood. When I said that, I meant that you are not worthy of me even drawing Benihime. Also it would be cruel as I would kill you so quickly I'd get no enjoyment from the battle; Benihime enjoys the taste of the blood of her enemies a bit too much." Said Naruto calmly.

* * *

"That boy is quite arrogant Hokage-dono." Said Onoki as he looked down from the reserved Kage booth.

"I have to agree with Tsuchikage-dono. He seems a bit bloodthirsty as well." Said the Kazekage.

"He is far less bloodthirsty than young Gaara from what I've seen. Also it isn't arrogance but confidence from what I've seen out of young Naruto during the preliminaries." Said Hiruzen.

"Still I'm quite surprised from what I was told the boy's sword work appeared to be topnotch for his age." Said the Kazekage.

"True it is quite good however over specialization leads to stagnation." Reminded Hiruzen causing Onoki to grunt his agreement.

"Hey Sakura have you ever seen Naruto fight without his sword?" questioned Kiba in a different section of the stands.

At this point those who hadn't made it into the tournament had somehow managed to find some seats where they could sit together. Ino and Shikamaru had likewise opted out of remaining in the fighters box any longer and had made their way to the group during the window of time before the current match. By this point Hinata and Tenten had also joined them and found themselves some seats as well no longer confined to the medic station. In truth however all of them had been informed of the pending invasion and what their roles would be and had gathered together before it could begin.

"Not since the academy. But Kakashi-sensei said that they had purposely taught him wrong there so they could fail him." said Sakura shocking quite a few of the group.

"This should be interesting." Said Asuma perking up slightly which got Kurenai's attention.

"True perhaps we'll see what Kakashi's managed to do with him." said Kurenai.

"How many could you count?" questioned Asuma lowly after a moment.

"Twenty, you?" returned Kurenai.

"Twenty-three."

* * *

On the ground Karasu shot forward at fast speeds surpassing his previous attempts which Naruto matched dodging around him with the same ease each time he came in. As he dodged around the next attack he tossed a pair of kunai which successfully buried themselves into the back of his opponent. As the blades dug in Karasu tensed briefly before his skin darkened and he fell into a pile of mud. Before Naruto could do anything else however a slow clapping made itself known and he looked to find Karasu perched up in a tree.

"Not bad you killed my clone, but now what?"

As soon as the questioned was asked Naruto's eyes widened and he leapt away just as the spot the clone had occupied exploded. Though he avoided the explosion for the most part he was still thrown through the air before he managed to recover and land on his feet skidding a couple of feet before he came to a stop. Suddenly Karasu passed by him his hand sliding along the blondes shoulder as he passed and in the next moment Naruto exploded only to burst into rose petals much to Karasu's shock. Turning Karasu was just in time to see him calmly emerge from the thicket of trees with his hands in his pockets. In the next instant however he jumped and to the eyes of most seemed to be moving around, flipping and dodging around the arena for no reason. As he continued Karasu narrowed his eyes and while not breaking his stride Naruto began to speak.

"You know this is quite the trick. At first I wasn't sure how you were doing it but now I understand. You possess the ability to create constructs out of chakra and turn them into explosives. As chakra cannot be seen by regular eyes it gives the illusion of invisibility allowing you to finish opponents before they even realize what's happening." Explained the blond before he came to a halt his eyes having not left Karasu once.

"So you managed to figure me out. It's true I do have that ability. In Iwa there is a clan that specializes in the art of explosions. However this clan is but a branch, a pale imitation of the main family which was destroyed during the dark ages. I am a descendent of this clan, often called the Quest clan." Said Karasu calmly.

"I see; that does indeed make sense. Such an ability as creating a bomb from nothing is incredibly rare and requires talent, a skill that belongs only to a superior class. Among that class I knew of only three, Senju, Uchiha and Uzumaki and now your own would make the fourth. Furthermore I find it ironic that these four clans have all been reduced to numbers in the single digits. Still those in this class are those I find worthy; worthy to fight and worthy to die.

"You flatter me, but we are still not equals."

As he said this his hands began glowing a corrosive green with energy before he slammed them into the ground. After but a moment several more versions of him rose out of the ground numbering at least twenty. As they rose to their full height and fully emerged one could see that unlike regular earth clones these were actually glowing softly with the green energy even still.

"Trust me Karasu, on that I fully agree."

As Naruto said this he removed one of his hands from his pocket, within which was a small seed; one that quickly morphed into a fully bloomed rose. While surprised Karasu merely raised an eyebrow while Genma had his eyes widen. Channeling his chakra the rose quickly changed as Naruto swung his now glowing red weapon.

"Rozu Uippu (Rose Whip)!" exclaimed the blond.

For a moment the blond was a blur and all that could be seen was a trail of red energy before it stopped with Naruto having not moved from his spot with a long green whip covered in thorns now coiled within his hands. At the same time each Karasu including the one he'd spoken to burst into mud before exploding covering the entire ground with smoke.

* * *

"Kami did you see that!" exclaimed Kiba in shock.

"Impressive" said Shino, though due to his tone both his teammates knew he was also shocked.

"That is quite the ability. I believe your Shodai had a similar one correct Hokage-dono?" questioned Onoki

"Indeed he possessed a similar ability though different." Answered the man masking his own surprise quite well.

The Tsuchikage snorted and turned back to the match while the Kazekage was now watching with intense and hungry eyes. However all over the stands people were talking and excited yet hushed whispers at the revealing of such an ability. It was no secret that the Shodai Hokage had been famous for his nature manipulation ability, his being his Mokuton techniques; in fact he'd been so skilled that he was rumored to have created the entire forest surrounding the village with but a single technique. For Naruto to be in possession of such a similar ability told people that he was more of a blessing than they had ever thought possible.

* * *

While the stands were rocked in their shock and the smoke was clearing Karasu chose that moment to leap up from under the ground and lunge only for the blond to lash out with his whip. Leaping away the black haired Iwa nin sent a kunai sailing towards the blond who moved to reflect it only for the kunai to explode upon contact. As Naruto dropped the tattered remains of his weapon Karasu had already sped through seals before an earth made dragon rose form the ground and spat several large balls of mud at Naruto who dodged only to be thrown away thanks to an explosion. Recovering quickly Naruto used his hand to rebound and sent himself into a flip to land on his feet. Karasu hadn't been idle however and ran through seals only this time creating a barrage of bird like constructs which he sent the blonde's way. Naruto wasted no time and once again began active intent on dodging the birds that he knew were bombs. With him distracted Karasu ran though more seals adding a pack of four wolves to the chase followed by several bat like creatures except they only had one giant eye in the middle of their heads.

"Tell me have you ever heard of the Ojigi. It is a rare plant found only in the region of Kusa no Kuni. The Ojigi is extremely sensitive to movement and if it senses any kind of vibration it will quickly close its leaves around its prey." Said Naruto as he flipped, twist, and turned around several of the constructs.

"I have no interest in gardening." Said Karasu smirking as Naruto touched down and was finally surrounded on all sides.

"Well you've proven more difficult to catch than most but still today's the day you die leaf scum." Said Karasu preparing to detonate all of them in a single blast.

"Impressive. However you should never corner an animal like a fox; we have a tendency to show our teeth."

As Naruto said this a massive amount of chakra burst out from him and surrounded him forming a twister. As it spun the chakra split into segments and swung around like tails taking out each of the constructs surrounding the teen causing a chain of explosions. Finally when the smoke clared Naruto could be seen standing calmly surrounded by several large plants that stood around him protectively. Unlike most plants however these plants were purple in color and towered over the blond for several feet. For those who were counting they numbered ten and as they began to rise bobbing slightly as they did so.

"**Makai no Ojigi So no Jutsu (Demon Realm Bow Grass Technique)**" said Naruto catching the attention of the entire arena.

"An Ojigi plant is quite dangerous regularly; however it is several more times more lethal and more sensitive when grown under my energy. Genma if you don't want to be plant food I suggest that you don't move."

As Naruto said this it caused the special jounin to gulp an action which caused one of the plants to swerve and face him. Finally the plants fully rose the bulbs at the top arching back and revealing jagged and sharp teeth. At the same time the leaves in the center opened exposing a mouth with even more teeth. The mouth itself was shaped like a slit with teeth on the outermost layer and another set on the inner layer while the leaves began to glow a soft red.

"Hm it appears to have zeroed in on you, it seems all of your trembling must have caught its attention." Said Naruto.

Karasu scoffed and began running through seals however just as he did he was forced to jump away as father than he thought possible one of the plants had launched itself at him only barely missing. As if that was a signal the other plants followed the action launching at him causing him to jump around all across the arena. As the plants hit they left small craters in their wake as they continued to chase after Karasu who was keeping ahead of them if only barely.

"Tell me how does it feel to be the one pursed?" questioned Naruto.

* * *

"Impressive isn't it." Spoke a voice causing two of the three Kage's present to tense slightly.

"Indeed Jiraiya it is. Did you know about this?" answered and questioned Hiruzen motioning to the action going on below them.

"Yeah the kid showed me while we were training this month, said he wanted to surprise you. Kid's a really creative gaki he came up with these techniques during the academy after learning about the Shodai in class, had an entire notebook full of ideas." Said Jiraiya with a chuckle.

The other two Kage's had relaxed though the Kazekage narrowed his eyes at this unexpected arrival.

"I'm surprised you've taken on another student Jiraiya." Said the Tsuchikage narrowing his own eyes.

"Oh I haven't. His sensei actually just asked me to look over a few of his ideas as a favor. I'm actually pretty glad I did now though." Said Jiraiya waving off the idea of taking on another student.

Onoki grunted in acknowledgement and turned away. Meanwhile Hiruzen blew an inward sigh of relief at the dismissal of that topic as Jiraiya had given a very believable excuse as for why he would training the boy. After all to anyone who bothered to pay attention they would see that Kakashi had been the student of the Yondaime who had been the student of Jiraiya so Kakashi asking the man a favor such as that would not at all seem strange.

"How is this possible." Questioned the red headed woman with her eyes wide in surprise.

"I'm still unsure about that though I have an idea." Said Kushina.

* * *

Meanwhile on the ground Karasu was still on the run though he had managed to take down a few of the plants during that time. Naruto frowned as in all honesty he hadn't expected Karasu to be able to last so long let alone take out any of his Ojigi plants yet he'd actually destroyed four of them. Finally as he went to land after a jump Karasu was surprised to find one of the plants appear beneath him mouth open and the black haired nin only had enough time for his eyes to widen before he fell and was grabbed by the plant. Despite being swallowed by one of the plants the others converged each one swallowing another in an attempt to utterly destroy the Iwa nin. Naruto's eyes narrowed and suddenly the plants all exploded violently; as the smoke cleared Karasu could be seen panting heavily with blood dripping down his form and his clothing mangled.

"You look surprised, don't tell me you expected something like that to take me out." Said Karasu after a moment.

"True I am slightly surprised you survived. However it matters not this match is over." Said Naruto stuffing his hands back in his pockets.

"Tch, bullshit it's over until one of us falls." Said Karasu still panting.

"There is no point. While I'm impressed you survived the fact is escaping has left you powerless. Your chakra is at a dangerously low level and you can barely even stand. As it is the fact that you impressed me is the only reason I'm letting you leave here alive." With that said the blond turned and began to walk away.

"DON'T YOU TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!"

With that enraged exclamation Karasu launched himself forward quickly closing the distance and swinging towards the blondes head with his closed fist. At the last moment the blond slipped around the blow and lashed out with a palm strike that sent Karasu flying back several feet before he landed in a tumble before coming to a stop. Genma blinked his eyes wide as he looked from the spot Naruto stood to the place Karasu landed at his feet nearly ten feet away however seeing the boy out of it completely he spoke up.

"Winner by knockout Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto hearing this turned and walked away ignoring the cheers of the crowd.

AN: Well that's it the chapters done. I was initially going to make it longer and include the second round but that would have meant using a cliff hanger and I just didn't feel like it. In regards to Sasuke's match before anyone asks I've yet to see a fic where he was seriously outclassed during the tournament outside some of my own or when he was against anyone except Naruto. As such I came up with this and felt Lee would be the perfect person for that role. Well that's all I have to say so thanks for reading and please review. Till next time; LATER.


	16. Chapter 16

sA Foxes Tale

Chapter 16

AN: Hello all, its been a while. Firstly I'd like to say that I'm sorry it took so long for me to update this. A few months back a started a new job and for a while was working two. In that time I had also moved and honestly just got the last of my stuff unpacked. As for the rest of the time I actually lost all inspiration due to the purge as a saw that several new and good writers were among the many to be purged. Due to this I actually thought about calling it a wrap and putting everything up for adoption but obviously changed my mind.

Anyway in the future I'll try not to stay away so long but I make no promises for one day I think I may actually be gone for good as I still have my own dreams to pursue. Until that time, and even after that I hope you guys stick with me. That said let's get down to business and see if I can still do this right.

Start Now:

For a short while the crowd was silent at the declaration of the matches end. However that silence was abruptly shattered as a thunderous roar soon came over the arena as the crowd began cheering wildly. For a moment Naruto froze as the sound registered to his ears before smirking and continuing on his way off the field. As he left the arena grounds and entered the tunnel the blonde was greeted with the sight of Kakashi leaning against the wall to his left, book stashed away and apparently waiting on him.

"That was quite the interesting match." Began the scarecrow as he feel in step with the boy.

"Is there a reason you didn't inform me of that particular skill set?" questioned the copy-nin causing the gennin to shrug.

"It's something I'd been thinking about but it didn't really become real until just recently. I mean I had the basic idea but I didn't have an actual move set for the plant based techniques until during the break." Explained the blonde evenly.

"The council will most likely call you in for questioning. With techniques so similar to the Mokuton you'll be under a lot more scrutiny until they're satisfied." Said the jounin.

"I see; that may be a problem." Admitted the boy.

"Also concerning your target. If at any point you feel a loss of control back out and the more experienced of us will handle the situation."

"While I appreciate the sentiment sensei I can handle it. You should save your energy for the party. Besides this is one matter which I must see to myself." Replied the gennin.

"Did you at least learn any of the techniques I left for you?" questioned the jounin.

In response Naruto smirked as a new yet familiar glint entered his eyes. After his confrontation with Guren, Kakashi had stopped by his place and given him a scroll full of jutsu. While a few of them he was unable to learn due to their fire alignment quite a few he had indeed been able to learn. With his final question answered Kakashi felt only a small bit of relief before he burst into smoke.

'_Kage Bunshin is my move copycat_.' Thought the blonde shaking his head before continuing on his way.

"That kid's really grown." Commented one of the examiners.

He had long, spiky, black hair and dark eyes with a strip of bandage running across the bridge of his nose and a light-colored marking on his chin. He wore the standard uniform of a Konoha shinobi of chunin rank or higher with his hitae-tae placed over his forehead and went by the name Hagane Kotetsu.

"I know, to think he's the same brat that used to run around terrorizing the village just a year ago." Agreed his partner.

He had brown hair and dark eyes with his hair combed down and covering his right eye. He wears his forehead protector like a bandanna along with the standard Konoha shinobi outfit, the vest of which goes all the way up to his chin. His name was Kamizuki Izumo and like Kotetsu one of the two well known for being the permanent guards of the villages main gate.

"With kenjutsu, and these new ninjutsu of his he's definitely got the ability." Said Kotetsu.

"True but does he have the mind? Granted he never lost his cool but I haven't seen much strategy used. Though to his credit it almost seemed as if he was toying with the other kid." Commented Izumo

"That Karasu kid was good but we both know Uzumaki could have ended it in an instant if he had used that Shunpo move of his." Said Kotetsu.

"He was reacting." Said a new voice catching their attention.

Turning towards the speaker they were greeted with the sight of the Tokubetsu Jounin who had been referee of the preliminaries Gekko Hayate looking down on the field with narrowed eyes.

"Care to explain?" questioned Izumo.

"It's a method kenjutsu users employ. Analyze your opponents moves and simply react accordingly. By doing this you can not only assess their threat level but predict the movements of your opponents. Once you've seen enough to make an assessment you move to finish it. It is something that only comes with experience." Explained Hayate

While this was going on, within the Kage booth the Kage level shinobi were also going over the match with a fine toothed comb especially the two elders. Due to their years of service each of them had picked up the ability to break down battles to come to the eventual result of the confrontation.

"That boy is a sensor isn't he?" questioned Onoki.

"Oh what makes you think that?" questioned Jiraiya sounding honestly intrigued.

"Karasu's ability is quite rare and that boy had been able to pick up his attacks instantly whereas others wouldn't even realize they were coming." Said Onoki with narrowed eyes.

"I suppose that could explain it." Said Jiraiya giving no commitment in any way to confirm or deny the man's thoughts.

Meanwhile Orochimaru was stewing the current conversation not even registering to his ears as he was lost in his thoughts. He had successfully assassinated the Yondaime Kazekage and took his place to put him in prime position to murder his old sensei. He had not expected either Jiraiya or the Sandaime Tsuchikage to be in attendance and it had in a manner of speaking thrown him off quite a bit. Not only that but his plan which was set to kick off during the midst of Gaara's match was being stalled due to the fact that his initial opponent had forfeit, and the Uchiha who he had expected much from had lost while his opponent had hardly even broken a sweat.

The match between the blonde and the Iwa boy however had been highly enlightening. He had never expected young Naruto to be capable of the feats he had displayed within that match yet he had demonstrated techniques quite similar to that of the Shodai Hokage, for which his earlier experiments had failed to replicate. Perhaps he'd keep the boy alive as an experiment so that they would be able to duplicate his newfound ability.

On the ground Genma was also impressed with the previous matchup. While he knew that Naruto was already assured a promotion by the Hokage he was still critiquing the battle. While the moves were new to him he had recognized the style of combat as that of Namikaze Minato. As one of the elite bodyguards of the Hokage he had gotten to see the Yondaime in action on more than one occasion. The man had a habit of holding back and drawing out his battles until he could see what his opponents true skill level was. He had seen his partner Raido try and emulate the style of combat once with the result being the scar that now decorated his face. Naruto however had done it flawlessly looking very much like the fallen Hokage in the process.

'_It seems as if his son has inherited more than just his looks_.' mused Genma.

"We will now have a twenty minute intermission before he next round." Spoke Genma his voice heard throughout the arena thanks to the voice amplification technique.

* * *

Elsewhere another figure paused in his movements catching the attention of his comrades. The figure was a legend within his group of peers dressed in a pair of black pants with a matching tank top over which was a piece of white armor held up by straps over the shoulders. Gauntlets and grieves covered his forearms and shins and a ceramic mask in the image of a dog covered his face. This was Inu the man who held the longest running reign as an ANBU captain in the history of the Hidden Leaf without becoming a commander.

Surrounding him were several other figures garbed similarly with the only difference being the mask and hair styles. The group comprised primarily of ANBU captains past and present was an elite task force that the Sandaime had assembled for a mission just as important as the pending invasion.

'_Twenty minutes_.'

Instead of speaking he had flashed through the hand signs each member of the ANBU corps had drilled into their heads before even their first mission. None spoke but nods of confirmation were sent and the message repeated for those who could not see him. Up ahead another legendary member crouched as he held his hands within a seal with his eyes closed. This was Dolphin the greatest tracker the corp had ever seen. Despite not being born of a clan with technqiues designed for such things Dolphin reigned supreme, needing neither his eyes or nose to accomplish his feats. Thanks to him they had already covered much ground with their targets none the wiser taking out plenty of them in the process. Just like Inu however Dolphin had also left the ranks and rejoined the regular forces. Suddenly Dolphin's eyes opened as he signed the number of enemies he could sense.

'_Sixty_.' Thought Inu with a hidden scowl.

The task force was separated into small groups for easier movements. His group numbered six consisting of himself, Dolphin, Tora, Panda, Bunta and Neko. The mission was classified as a stealth op and as such called for the usage of very little chakra and no big jutsu. Of course he had expected a larger number gathered within the next chamber. From the diagrams he'd memorized the next chamber was the main one where all the tunnels branches connected to. That meant that perhaps the other squads had thinned the numbers more than he had expected, which he should have kept in mind from the beginning. With all the entrances to the place they knew of the task force had the entire place covered so of course the other squads would have run afoul of their own share of trouble.

'_Company, friendly_.' Came another sign catching his attention.

In the next instant several forms emerged from the darkness of the tunnels including Taka, Hebi, Kuma, Usagi, Ushi and Nezumi.

'_All teams in position_.' Signed Taka.

'_Any fatalities?_' questioned Tora.

'_Zero on our end_.' Returned Taka.

'_Is the barrier in place?_' questioned Inu.

'_Affirmative_.' Answered Kuma.

'_Good lets finish this, there's still an invasion to deal with and we all have appearances to maintain_.' Signed Inu

Seeing this Tora began flipping through a long chain of seals before ending it on hitsuji (ram). Due to the fact that they were already underground there was no warning when the roots of trees came alive impaling every 'Ne' ninja surrounding them before anyone knew what had even happened. In the next instant the small cavern was flooded as the members of the ANBU rushed the place blades flashing quickly moving to cut down the emotionless drones before they could get their bearings. However the 'Ne' agents quickly regained themselves and turned to defend against the invaders of their underground base. Inu was a blur of motion as he cut down foes left and right, his tanto flashing severing limbs with each swing. One 'Ne' agent was able to get a blade up in time only for the ANBU's blade to cleave straight through it without slowing in the slightest. To his left Dolphin was also a whirl of motion leaving nothing but crippled bodies in his wake as he twirled a pair of tonfa around his form battering his opponents into paste.

As a group of Ne agents recovered Taka suddenly appeared in their midst striking out with a series of quick strikes that had them dropping like puppets with their strings cut. As a few of them tried to take advantage of their comrades defeat by leaping at him a wall of chakra appeared surrounding the ANBU agent before he proceeded to spin the end result not just blocking the attack but sending the attackers themselves flying and slamming into the walls or into their comrades. Within minutes it was over and the ANBU operatives stood over a pile of sixty dead bodies many of which were still impaled by the tree roots. Flinging the blood off of his own blade Inu took a hard look at his surroundings and was pleased to find that the priority target had been taken out by the very tree root he'd been using as a chair.

"Is that everyone?" questioned Inu no longer seeing the need for silence.

"Some of them are still breathing but yea that's everyone." Informed Taka

"I want any survivors imprisoned with their chakra sealed in the holding cells until T&I can get through with them all. Those who can bag and tag everything; the rest of us will head back to our respective positions and prepare for the invasion." Ordered Inu getting affirmative calls before he vanished with several others doing the same.

* * *

Twenty minutes went by rather quickly; yet even still those in attendance had managed to handle their business all the same. Food had been ordered, bets cashed out, new ones made, and several people had flawlessly switched places with the clones they'd left beforehand. Naruto had never been so happy for a time limit before however, as before he had even made it back to the fighters box he'd been cornered and grilled for answers. With the fact that his group was comprised of clan heirs then he just knew that he would be called in before the council soon enough. Luckily he'd been able to pass his abilities off as something he just did, after all he was an orphan, it's not like he really knew how he got his abilities. That had been all that was needed to get them to leave him alone, many of them going off on a tangent about a possible Kekki Genkai he'd inherited, though with the look Shikamaru gave e him he just knew the usually lazy boy would start digging.

The fighters booth had now filled back up as those who'd been sent to the infirmary had for the most part returned, with the notable exception of the Iwa nin. Even Sasuke had returned though he had taken to brooding in a corner and glaring back at Lee. Finally the start of the next round was announced surprising everyone as Gaara and Naruto were called down. The two appeared in a swirl of sand and flower petals respectively neither of them seemingly bothered at all with being called down. As they faced each other down Naruto took the time to go over everything he had been taught about the Ichibi by both his mother and Jiraiya in the last month.

Like all biju it possessed a phenomenal amount of chakra, the ability to freely manipulate sand and the ability to manipulate wind. From what he'd learned it seemed Gaara had also inherited the biju's ability to manipulate the sand and even had a defense of sand that acted of its own will to protect him. This meant he would have to draw the sand away from him in order to do any damage, however this was more than a match for him or even a mission. This was a test given to him by his mother, the Ichibi was among the weakest of the Biju and if he was to rise and take her place as the head he would have to prove his strength and do so without Benihime. He would also be unable to rely on the majority of his self-invented ninjutsu as while versatile his plants would not be able to defeat the sand.

"Hajime"

Thoughts cut off by the announcement the boy quickly jumped away as several tendrils of sand were launched at him. As the tendrils kept chasing him the teen showed a bit of acrobatics as he jumped, twisted, turned, and flipped away from the sand that seemed eager to grab hold of him. As the blond was jumping around Gaara watched him with narrowed eyes having seen a similar performance earlier during his match with Karasu. With that in mind he focused his will and as the blond came down from yet another jump a literal wall of sand rushed up to meet him only for the blond to suddenly vanish as soon as his feet touched the sand. Reappearing right in front of Gaara the blond let lose a punch only for a wall of sand to come up and stop it before trying to grab hold forcing him to vanish in a burst of Shunpo once more. As he reappeared on the ground away from Gaara a scowl covered the blondes face as he watched the gourd on his back pull the sand back to its bottom.

'_So the gourd is actually made of hardened sand, ok let's try this_.'

With that thought the blond charged forward picking up speed quickly before suddenly vanishing only to appear and deliver a kick which the sand only just managed to block. Vanishing once more before the sand could grab hold of him Naruto appeared once more in mid air where he hurled a trio of shuriken at the Suna gennin before flying through a quick chain of seals.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

As the jutsu's name was muttered the shuriken multiplied from three to nearly fifty barreling towards the redhead. Gaara didn't even bat an eye as his sand rose up to block the flying rain of metal stars. Pouring on the speed as the sand blocked Gaara's view of him Naruto surprised everyone by actually running away from the redhead towards the far wall. His reasoning was soon revealed however as once the stars hit the sand instead of popping into smoke they began exploding one after another. As each explosion ripped through the stadium the ground shook as they kunai exploded with more force than even exploding tags were known for.

Suddenly two tendrils of sand shot out from the ground spearing the blond through the back only for him to burst into a cloud of smoke. As the smoke from Naruto's attack cleared it showed that a wall of sand now sat on the field, heavily battered but had still managed to protect Gaara from the blonde's assault. As the wall fell even more tendrils came alive and launched themselves towards the other side of the field quickly causing Naruto to leap from his observation spot in the trees in order to avoid the attack. With the blond in the air the tendrils fell away as instead a barrage of sand made projectiles flying his way. Flying through a chain of seals the blond sucked in a deep breath before exhaling and sending out balls of water rapidly.

"**Suiton: Teppodama (Water Release: Gunshot)**"

As the blasts of water were launched out each of them hit a projectile that might have hit the blond causing them to fall to the ground completely soaked through allowing the blond to land unharmed. Suddenly a small sound echoed across the field which was quickly traced to Gaara who was actually chuckling before it turned into loud laughter before it stopped at he looked at the blond with deranged green eyes.

"You, you are strong. You will be the one to verify my existence, COME MAKE ME FEEL ALIVE!" roared Gaara. With his roar the very ground shook as a wave of sand shot out from the ground and straight towards Naruto who remained calm as the sea of sand fell towards him.

"You are strong and truly embody the strength of the desert. However this isn't the desert, this is Konoha, this is a forest and here I AM KING! **Mokuton: Jukai Heki (Wood Release: World of Trees Wall)**"

At Naruto's call the ground rumbled once more as countless branches shot out from the ground interlacing themselves and forming a wide net like wall in front of the blond that towered over everything within the stadium. As the sand and wooden wall met they slammed together with the wall stopping the sand in its tracks.

Once more an astonished silence had come over the crowd at the feats they were witnessing. For many they had never seen a fight quite like the one they were now baring witness to. For the sand shinobi in the arena they had never seen Gaara pushed so far before nor had they ever seen anyone capable of stopping his sand outside of the Kazekage himself who had actually taught Gaara all that he knew when it came to his manipulation of the sand. However for the vast majority of the people there it was Naruto who was the most surprising of the two. Sure they had witnessed his manipulation of plants first hand earlier in the day but what he had just done was so far beyond that. The Mokuton was a legendary sub-element usable only by the mighty Shodai Hokage as for as nearly the entire world knew, hell even the members of his own clan, his own children had been incapable of replicating the feat that the man had done so easily.

From his position an impassive look had settled over the face of the Sandaime Hokage. Sure he had given the blond permission to finally go all out and use his full bag of tricks if needed but that didn't mean he wasn't aware of the can of worms such a grand revealing would open up. With all of the nobles in attendance on this day including several daimyo's he knew with some certainty that offers for arranged marriages would begin pouring in soon enough. That wasn't even at the top of his list of worries; with Orochimaru sitting next to him he knew that he would have to put down his rogue student if the blond was to have any hope of surviving his carnivorous hunger for jutsu especially that of the Mokuton. There was also the fact that Onoki was on his other side and if that old bastard was anything it was a schemer, at the least he knew the blond would be on Iwa's watch list if not the bingo book.

"Holy shit!"

Once again the exclamation had come from Kiba upon seeing the newest trick Naruto had pulled off. While he wasn't the smartest in class nor did he care to pay attention all that much even he knew about the rarity of the Mokuton. It was like a kick in the nuts that less than six months after they got out of the academy the one who had been the dead last was now so powerful and had access to so many techniques.

"Impossible." Said Asuma dropping his cigarette to the floor.

"I guess this explains it." Said Choji.

"What are you talking about?" questioned Shikamaru.

"Naruto and Sasuke. Those two have always been at each other's throats. If Naruto is a Senju though it explains everything it's ingrained in their blood to hate each other." Said Choji.

"That's not the half of the troublesome situation Choji. Naruto would have to be a direct descendant of Senju Hashirama, and Sasuke's line has always headed the Uchiha." Said Shikamaru

By this point everyone in hearing distance was listening in and quite honestly many knew exactly what the pineapple haired boy was talking about. While it wasn't spoken of so much anymore those two clans had a vicious rivalry between each other and many of them had outright hated the other clan. The fact that they had actually come together in order to form Konoha was actually still looked at as a surprise. Now that the two clans had been basically wiped out no one ever mentioned the darker history between the two instead preferring to only talk of their better qualities in order to honor the two clans. Not everyone was thinking along these lines however no, one person was actually salivating, as behind the veil of the Kazekage Orochimaru was looking down on the field hungrily now thankful for the fact that the blond hadn't been killed by Guren as he'd been forced to reveal such a precious gift. He had to have the boy, with the power of the Mokuton in his possession as well as the Sharingan the man would be all but invincible and it was for this reason, lost in his fantasies that he didn't signal the invasion to start.

Down on the field the wall of trees had lowered and sank back into the ground as had the sea of sand, as the two gennin had gotten rid of their respective elements for the sake of eyeing each other. Suddenly a massive amount of chakra was released from Gaara and Naruto's eyes widened at the fact that Gaara's scent had begun to change. Sand began circling the boy at a quick rate and seeing this Naruto launched himself forward determined to stop what he feared was happening. Gathering reiatsu to his left hand he stopped his run and spun before releasing the technique.

"**Hado #4: Byakurai!**"

With his exclamation a surge of lighting launched out of his fingertips and flew with quick speeds towards Gaara. The shield of sand was quick to react springing up to protect him only for the lightning to punch right through it hitting Gaara in the shoulder with such force he flew back like a ragdoll. However instead of stopping it Gaara screamed and even more power poured out from him as his bloodied shoulder was covered in sand as his gourd burst apart. As he stood to his feet the sight that greeted Naruto was the sight of Gaara with half of his face covered in sand; however it didn't end there. Instead the sand also covered the entirety of his right arm making it much longer and ending with a clawed hand with six fingers. His sclera in the right eye had turned pitch black while his iris had turned yellow, the pupil now shaped like an elongated diamond with four black dots, one on each portion of the diamond. Finally along his back flowed a long tail that flowed out from the now distorted gourd which was actually longer than some full grown men.

In an instant Gaara had covered the distance between them and with a shoulder tackle Naruto found himself sailing backwards. Recovering quickly despite the pain of the attack the blond shot his hand out striking the ground and initializing a flip to correct his position and land on his feet.

"**Suna Shuriken**."

The sound of the jutsu's name had him looking up just in time to see a hail of sand made projectiles speeding towards him at breakneck speeds. Bursting into Shunpo he narrowly managed to dodge the projectiles only to be surprised to be met by the swipe of a claw as he came out of it. The swipe connected only for Naruto to burst into a cloud of rose petals. Gaara's eyes widened and he turned just in time for the real Naruto to materialize with a sphere of red energy in hand.

"**Hado #31: Shakkaho (Red Fire Cannon)**"

At the blonde's words the sphere surged outwards into a short beam as it slammed into the unprepared Gaara sending him flying and slamming into the arena wall. Despite the impact of hitting the wall Gaara shot right back out unharmed speeding towards Naruto who was already in the midst of a chain of seals. As the speeding Suna-nin neared Naruto leapt clear over him shifting so that he avoided the tail that followed before landing and finishing his seal sequence.

"**Bakudo #4 Hainawa (Crawling Rope)**"

Yellow energy crackled to life in the blondes hands before he shot it forward the energy launching out in the form of a beam. However instead of striking the recovering Gaara the beam quickly encircled him coiling itself around his arms and body. As the technique settled Gaara pushed out at the energy ropes only for it to not even budge much to his frustration. Naruto meanwhile ran a hand through his hair brushing his bangs out of his eyes as well as the sweat from his face. While he didn't want to show it using the kido techniques and ninjutsu in combination with Shunpo was actually quite tiring. Of course he was also using seals for the kido instead of incantations which they had not been made for. At this point he was nearing his limit without revealing his own demonic side to combat the Suna nin.

"Call it, he's not getting out of that." Said Naruto. Before anything more could be said on that however there was a chain of explosions that occurred from the stands.

As the match drew to a close Orochimaru had broken out of his captivation with the match and had initialized the start of his plans. Immediately after the signal was given people in the stands began to pass out as feathers rained down on them, the genjutsu lulling them to a deep sleep. As the first of the explosions went off the rogue Sannin was already in motion seizing the Hokage as he leapt with the Hokage's guards quickly going to action cutting down the Kazekage's only for the bisected guards to still leap away revealing four different people. As they emerged onto the rooftop the guards no more than their mid-teens in age had flown through a well-practiced chain of seals before a barrier of purple energy sprang into existence.

"Hm, I was wondering how long it would take for you to make your move, Orochimaru." Said the Sandaime evenly.

"Kukuku so you knew it was me. I suppose this mask no longer matters then."

In an instant they had sprung apart with Orochimaru ripping away the robes of the Kazekage. Unperturbed Hiruzen merely reached up to rip away his own robes revealing that he was clad in his own battle attire from the Shinobi World Wars. Orochimaru chuckled and shook his head at the sight while the eldest of the Sarutobi clan merely took on his own battle stance. Down below however there was no squaring up and measuring the other. The shinobi of Konoha had instead acted in an instant the moment that the invaders revealed themselves secure in their thoughts of a surprise attack they had no idea of exactly what type of situation they were actually in. As the genjutsu descended the upper level shinobi immediately broke out letting it affect the civilians if only to keep them from running amok during the violence.

As she herself broke the genjutsu she felt coming over her, Sakura's eyes widened in surprise as the business end of a kunai was already nearing her face. It never got close however as in an instant the attacker was taken down as Kakashi appeared between the two blood flying through the air as the war veteran stood out of his crouched position and the attacker instead grabbed at his own neck where there was a long horizontal slash. Glancing to the side Sakura could see the other jounin sensei in similar positions fending off other shinobi from attacking their students. They however weren't the only ones active as several more were whirling about the stands defending civilians and nobles alike from invaders. Her observations were brought to a screeching halt as the jounin instructors commanded each of the gennin to evacuate with the civilians and take position within the shelter. Meanwhile the Tsuchikage looked over the scene impassively from his position atop the stadiums wall. From the high elevation he could see everything going on but took a more keen interest in the happenings of the Hokage and his current challenger.

"Tsuchikage-sama what are we going to do?" questioned on of his guards.

He wore a long-sleeved purple shirt and pants, with a mesh-armor shirt underneath, and brown armor. On top of his head rested a large headpiece consisting of a three pointed crown-like ridge, bearing both his Iwagakure forehead protector and ring, and a prominent black piece of armor running across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He had long bright red hair pulled back into a tail that sat atop his head along with a full beard connected to his mustache.

"Nothing. At this point the goings on around here are not our problem. We will only act if attacked." Stated Onoki.

* * *

Elsewhere Naruto scowled from atop the wall of the stadium. In the confusion of the initial explosion a pair of Suna nin had managed to snatch up Gaara and escape with him. He himself had been a little busy fending off an attack by a group of Oto nin that had thought they'd gotten the drop on him, nothing that a rose whip couldn't handle, though the two that managed to dodge had been easily picked off by Hayate. At the moment he was surveying the area around him, his enhanced eyesight allowing him to make out details he would have otherwise missed. For instance down in the streets he could see that the invaders were busy fending for their lives as the people they thought were civilians revealed themselves to be shinobi as they reacted quickly to the 'surprise' attack.

'_West'_ thought the blond as he picked up Gaara's scent on the wind.

That was actually good for him as his quarry was unknowingly heading into the forest where he would be able to cut loose without being seen by anyone. Leaping off of the wall he landed easily upon the roof of a nearby building before flashing through a now familiar chain of seals biting his thumb before slamming the hand to the surface beneath him.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)**"

There was a blast of smoke which quickly cleared to reveal a golden furred Kitsune with five tails the tips of which resembled blue flames. Its paws were also covered in the substance which seemed eerily similar to flames and it bore a ying-yang crest on each of its limbs and atop its head. Its neck was surrounded by a mane of white fur and it had a red and white rope belt tied around its neck with weighted ends. The Kitsune was also quite large standing at the height of a full grown tiger and 11 ft. in length if you included the tails length.

"Hello Kasumi." greeted the blond

"**Hello Kurama-sama; may I ask why you've called me.**" Said the Kitsune in a feminine tone of voice.

"I'm hunting a tanuki I was hoping you'd like to join me" said the blond.

From what he had learned through the month about the kitsune's Kasumi was among the fastest within the clan. It was speed he would need to catch up with Gaara before he could surrender control to the bijuu. Kasumi gave him a grin that exposed her fangs and the blond leapt onto her back. Immediately as they settled the Kitsune took off through the streets in a mad dash following the scent of tanuki moving through the streets in a golden blur.

* * *

The goal of an invasion was always pretty much the same. There was of course always the people who thought it was to swoop in and kill everyone or at least the leader. However the truth of the matter is there was always something more important than that goal. The true goal of an invasion was to seize control of a place of power as to do so was not only a great tactical advantage it allowed one to seize any and all items of worth in the time you had it occupied. For a shinobi village there was always three places you wanted to take, the Kage's office, the academy for prospective shinobi and the compounds of the most notable clans.

For one such as Tekuno knowing this information made his job much easier. As the academy and the Hokage's office were located within the same building he had taken the liberty of trapping the ever loving hell out of the place. He had taken many of the ideas within the scroll and put a more lethal spin on them turning the place into nothing short of a death trap. Classic ninja wire had been abandoned for stealthier pressure sensitive tiles in the floor and proximity seals which could summon anything from shuriken and kunai, to blasts of elemental power such as fireballs and lightning and one had even summoned forth the bane of all Konoha genin teams Tora much to one unsuspecting Oto-nins horror. Others who had the bright idea of scaling the walls on the outside had found themselves sucked into the walls themselves and held prisoner. Bodies were nailed to walls and lockers pinned there by all manner of sharp and pointy objects while headless corpses littered the floor, the walls and floor dyed in the color of blood.

None who entered the building would come out alive, ad those on the outside could only listen in horror to the terrified screams that would echo out of the building before being abruptly cut off. It was be this day that would give rise to the legend of Kanden Tekuno's 'House of Horrors' throughout the shinobi villages.

The Academy and Administrative Offices weren't the only places that were being defended with the usage of Naruto's until recently hidden plans. Holes in the defenses of the compounds had been turned into traps themselves with clan members lying in wait for those that would try to use them. The Inuzuka on hand at their compound descended on their prey with the appearance and ferocity of rabid beasts literally tearing invaders apart with their claws. As she shot down from her hidden cover within the trees a fanged grin was on the face of Inuzuka Tsume to go with her more feral appearance her clawed hands tearing through a pair of invaders throats almost effortlessly with her canine companion Kuromaru at her side.

Of course she wasn't the only one for at each clan compound the members of the various clans beat back the invaders with seemingly little effort. The previous incarnation of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation were making quick work of their opponents, their years as a functioning team during the Third Great Shinobi War easily allowing them to work in sync with each other despite the time that had passed since they had been teamed together.

* * *

While all of this was going on the two red headed women sat calmly within the private booth as if all was right with the world. As the stadium was rocked with explosions and hordes of invading Suna and Oto shinobi made themselves known the two women watched it all. For Kushina even if she wanted to help she couldn't and as such had to remain where she was whereas for the other the current situation was none of her concern and as such she watched it all dispassionately. Unfortunately for a pair set of invading nin they had been ordered to secure VIP's and some chose their booth; as they entered the woman besides Kushina looked at them with the same dispassionate stare even as they approached. As they neared the woman moved and a beam of pure energy shot from her fingertips which she maneuvered like a whip striking through each individual that came near before their bodies burst into flames.

"I see you've gained mastery of your fire chakra." Stated Kushina with an approving nod.

"One of the things I've accomplished over the years mother."

* * *

Rushing through the trees leaping from branch to branch Naruto's slitted eyes scanned the surroundings for his prey. His summon Kasumi was taking the ground which would be quicker for her, in truth he was following her still as her senses were more trained than his own. He came to a stop directly above her watching as a Suna nin, chuunin most likely sat waiting to ambush his pursuers. He shook his head as the fool was only watching the ground and when within a forest leaf-nin preferred to take the high ground to avoid just such situations. Looking down towards Kasumi he caught her eye and motioned her ahead an action which put a grin on her muzzle. Moving forward the kitsune's body slowly began to fade away as she activated a Kitsune illusion to hide herself, a skill Naruto could admit he did not possess.

It didn't take Kasumi long to work her way around to a better position and set up to pounce. Naruto however swiftly left the scene as much as he may have been coming to dislike humans lately he would not watch what would happen to that man. The Kitsune were unlike regular summons as the contract was created just for him, after all why would demons allow themselves to be summoned by humans. It was only because he was the son of the Kyubi the leader of the Kitsune's that he got away with it. Whatever the case he had other things to focus on, as one had stayed back the other couldn't be far ahead and with that thought in mind the teen poured on the speed leaving the man to his fate. It didn't take long for him to catch sight of Gaara and immediately was forced out of his perch to dodge a barrage of sand shuriken.

"**Nake, Benihime**."

The call came at the same time as the unsheathing with a blast of red energy launching at the still transformed form of Gaara. With speed unexpected by his current form Gaara dodged around the blast and charged straight for him with his right arm coming down in a swing. As arm met steel each of them pushed into the other with their strength as sparks flew. His danger senses tingling Naruto disengaged and leapt away just as Gaara opened his mouth along with several others on his person and expelled a blast of wind and sand. Summoning Benihime's shield for cover he was still thrown through the air by the attack. Gaara seeing this rushed forward swinging another right down on the teen who had still yet to recover as the hit met flesh the arm cleaved clean through before Naruto turned into a shattered log.

Suddenly raising his tail he blocked a barrage of shuriken before firing them right back out along with some sand made ones at his opponent. In the next instant he turned driving his clawed hand up and through Naruto's midsection only for him to burst into smoke. Spinning into a backhand strike he parried another blow from Benihime as the two once again locked in a power struggle. Before Gaara could capitalize again Naruto raised his left arm pointer and middle fingers out and fired a blast of lightning from his fingers that shot straight through the transformed teens shoulder. Roaring out in agony Gaara sent out a blast of wind from all his mouth catching Naruto point blank and launching him back into and through the trees sending them toppling to the forest floor.

For nearly a full minute all was quiet as Gaara watched the dust settle before a massive surge of power came to life and a roar of rage was released from the forest that literally sent the massive trunks flying through the air. Gaara's eyes widened as like a bullet a golden eyed Naruto came charging at him at a speed far surpassing anything he'd seen to date. Lashing out he sent a barrage of sand projectiles at the blonde only for him to leap high into the air. Cackling at the easy target Gaara took aim and fired once more only for the blond to twist dodging the airborne projectiles before lashing out with a clawed right hand. Gaara roared as the attack landed and sent one of his large arms in an effort to ward the teen off only for the blond to duck under the wild swing and send him flying with a power packed punch to the jaw.

Not slowing in the slightest the boy followed after him taking to the air once more to come down feet first in the transformed teens midsection hitting the ground with such force the earth shook and a new crater was created to mark the battle. For several moments things were still and silent before Gaara burst out of the crater sand now covering everything but his feet giving the illusion of a man sized tanuki as he charged. He moved far faster than his bulk would lead one to believe Naruto still managed to track him bringing Benihime around for a slash only for the blade to be blocked and locked with the Suna nin's transformed arm. Once again moving with a speed greater than his bulk should allow Gaara spun to his right pulling the blondes sword out and slamming his tail into the blonde's side with enough force to send him flying. Recovering quickly the blonde managed to grab hold of a tree branch and used his momentum to swing around it and launch himself back at Gaara.

Coming to a short stop he slammed his hand to a nearby tree causing the leaves to come alive and launch themselves at the Suna nin. Taking in a huge breath of air Gaara released it in a massive blast of wind

from his mouth and several more that appeared on his body. Thrown back as he was Naruto was not prepared for the shoulder that slammed into his chest with all the force of a freight train before he could even think of recovery Gaara managed to flip and delivered a heel drop that landed flush with the top of his head and launched him towards the ground. Even at the speed he was falling the blonde managed to recover and land on his feet. Glaring up at the Suna-nin Naruto closed his eyes as slowly his chakra began to rise.

* * *

Orochimaru skipped back just barely dodging a blow that if it had landed would have shattered the bones in his neck. Hiruzen didn't even pause as he pulled back the gigantic staff he was using expertly rotating it around his body and shooting it forward for a shot at his former student's body. The snake sannin dodged to the side knowing better than to try blocking with his sword before he could even think of retaliation he was cracked in the jaw with enough force to send him right into his old teachers follow up swing. The sound of bones breaking could be heard as the diamond strong staff slammed into the rogue Sannin's sternum before he was flung away like a rag doll.

Standing back as it happened Jiraiya couldn't help but smirk. Orochimaru had been on the defensive since the very beginning. That had been especially true after Jiraiya had emerged and ruined his plan breaking in from beneath and slamming a pair of Rasengan's through the two coffins he'd planned to use for the Edo Tensei. Since then Jiraiya had really been watching for the most part getting in a pot shot every once in a while just for the hell of it. The Sandaime Hokage didn't even give the fallen Sannin a chance to recover instead rushing forward aiming to deliver more punishment slippery as a snake Orochimaru managed to dodge the next attack lashing out with a strike from his sword only for the attack to be blocked by Hiruzen's staff. In the next instant a hairy arm materialized from the center of the staff slamming its large fist dead into the Snake Sannin's chest knocking him back.

Sarutobi took the moment to catch his breath. He hadn't realized just how badly out of shape he was. Just over a decade previously he had been able to spar with the Yondaime taijutsu only for quite a while. Now however he could barely keep himself going against Orochimaru who had never actually been one for taijutsu. Even at 57 years old he'd been in excellent shape as his wife had insisted that he keep up awith his training retired or not. After he had found his wife dead in the aftermath of the Kyubi attack he had put himself in a sort of self imposed exile confining himself in his office having more paperwork delivered to him than he had once allowed anywhere near the office. He had spent the last twelve plus years morning his wife and as such hadn't realized until just then just how badly out of shape he was.

Solid well earned muscle had faded away and a life time of earned skill, strength and power had abandoned him in favor of the aches of bones, stiffness of muscles and lack of chakra that all came from old age.

At this point it was only his experience that was even keeping him in the fight and even that wasn't enough. Several times the tides had come close to turning only for Jiraiya to step in at just the right moment and land a pot shot that would give him time to recover and press his attack. His heart hammered within his chest and lungs burned for air while his arms burned from the weight of Enma's staff form. Despite this he launched himself forward in the next instant shooting the abnormally large staff out to drive it through Orochimaru's chest cavity. Even as Orochimaru contorted to avoid the attack the elder was shifting into a new one a flick of his wrist causing the spearheaded strike to change into a sideswipe. Seeing this out of the corner of his eye the Snake Sannin flicked his wrist causing a trio of snakes to shoot out from his sleeve to catch the blunt weapon halting its momentum.

Seeing the Sarutobi tugged and with strength unnatural for someone his age lifted the tangled staff and by proxy Orochimaru into the air before sending it hammering down towards the tiled roof they fought on. Releasing the staff as it neared the ground Orochimaru made a mad dash towards his former sensei sliding across the ground to dodge the trio of shuriken Jiraiya had sent to stall him. Coming up to his feet the Sannin brought the Kusanagi to bare and thrust the blade towards his former teachers center mass. Danger senses screaming at him he leapt back just as Jiraiya came down from above driving a Rasengan into the ground where he would have been. However unlike other times it didn't stop there bursting from the missed attack Jiraiya was upon his former teammate in the next instant pressing his attack and sending a flurry of punches his way.

Doing his best to dodge around the assault Orochimaru found himself gritting his teeth as Jiraiya steadily increased the pressure with not a hint of his usual playful nature to be seen. Dodging around another attack he brought Kusanagi around forcing Jiraiya back and with a single one handed seal launched a large fireball from his mouth at the Toad Sannin. Spinning away from Jiraiya and focusing back on the Hokage Orochimaru just barely avoided a trio of floor tiles that the old man launched at him. However none of them took advantage as a massive spike in power suddenly came over them that caused all fighting to pause for that instant. All over the village people froze as the powerful chakra assaulted their senses causing many to shudder in remembered fear at the familiar energy. From their position within the private booth Kushina perked up as the feeling of power came to her senses while beside her the younger woman raised a delicate eyebrow.

"That's quite a bit of youki, more so than one his age has any right to possess." Stated the woman.

Kushina simply smiled as while nowhere near her level of power the power she felt was still not one that most could sneeze at. It was made even more impressive by the fact that it could be felt in the midst of a large scale invasion. With so many powers floating about the fact that this one could be felt over all others even by other people in the midst of battle spoke quite highly for the level of power its owner possessed.

* * *

Gaara took a step back as the power stabilized and he caught sight of his opponent once more. However in place of the blonde he had been fighting was a completely new figure. Spiky blonde hair had given way to straight flowing silver hair that fell down to his shoulders. His eyes still retained their golden color yet the pupil had rounded out once more; atop his head sat perched two silver fox ears while a silver fox tail fell behind him, tanned skinned lightened considerably and his whisker marks had faded away. His arms crossed over his chest the newly transformed Kitsune looked down on the transformed Tanuki a small smile sliding across his face at the feeling of his full power coursing through him. flexing his fingers out he withdrew Benihime from her sheath the zanpakuto spirit literally singing in his ear at the feeling of his more potent energy coursing through the blade.

Kurama didn't say a word, instead merely swinging the blade down towards Gaara firing off a massive wave of red energy from the blade. Hastily Gaara jumped down and just in time as the wave of power sailed over where he had just been standing cutting through several trees before hitting the ground and causing a massive explosion. His attention however was focused everywhere for with his increase in power came an increase in all of his senses and it was because of this he could now feel a large number of people coming towards the village on the other side of the forest. His mind quickly deduced it was most likely a second wave of forces that was the source and was probably the destination of the Suna-nin that had been carrying Gaara away.

"I'm sorry to cut this short. However it seems my attention is needed elsewhere at the moment."

His voice was softer yet held a more deadly edge to it. After speaking however he snapped his fingers causing several golden chains to come shooting out of the surrounding area, one for each limb and a separate one for his body. Gaara strained against his new bonds with all of his strength however Naruto paid him no mind, instead once again performing the steps for the summoning technique. There was the customary plume of smoke an when it cleared. Out from the smirk emerged a humanoid Kitsune with the bipedal appearance of a human yet the physical appearance of a kitsune that wore a pair of baggy purple pants and a white robe. Its neck was surrounded on each side and back by a high neck guards, its feet ended with three clawed toes similar to its hands and its face was a yellow color to match both its tail and the color of Naruto's natural human hair color.

"Kurama-sama." Greeted the Kitsune bowing her head in greeting.

"I trust you can handle this Akemi-san." Said teen calmly

"Of course I will not fail Kurama-sama."

The younger Kitsune nodded his understanding. In all honesty he trusted she would be able to do the job otherwise he wouldn't have summoned her. Turning away from the still struggling Gaara he vanished only to reappear deeper within the forest beside Kasumi who stood at his arrival with Naruto ignoring the blood stains he saw along her claws and muzzle. As one the duo shot through the forest with the young hanyou taking to the trees and Kasumi the ground until they came to a stop. Landing silently upon the ground beside his companion the young half demon spied a large force of Oto-nin making their ways through the forest at a gradual pace. He wasn't surprised the forest around Konoha was dangerous and not just because of the animals that called it home. Smiling darkly he channeled a bit of his youki into the ground at his feet in just a few seconds the roots of several trees shot out from the ground impaling many of the unprepared ninja. However it didn't shop there for even as others dodged the roots turned as flexibly as whips and shot after more taking them down in the surprise of the action before burrowing back into the ground.

Before the Oto-nins could even think of reorganizing themselves Kasumi had leapt into action looking like nothing more than a golden blur as she dashed through the ranks only for those she passed to fall out screaming seconds later as wounds opened up on their persons. Emerging from the bushes himself the silver haired Kitsune looked at those that she was not going near his very appearance causing many of the shinobi to seize up in fear. The braver of their number however wasted no time in trying for attacks rushing him in hopes of their sheer numbers overwhelming him, their actions proved futile for the teen had quickly drawn Benihime from her sheath and with two quick rising slashes sent a pair of crimson energy waves out from the sword which cut the rushing attackers down before shooting up into the air.

Seeing this many further back turned to flee only to cry out in horror as the Kitsune appeared before them within an instant. Within his left hand he held out a leaf which quickly transformed into a sword nearly identical to Benihime's released state. Not giving the surprised and frightened group a chance to overcome their fears he launched himself forward with the two weapons flashing as he cut down his foes left and right. As another group attempted to attack they began to scream as they were suddenly consumed within blue flames. Those that had been missed by the attack weren't safe however as Kasumi descended upon them cutting into them with claws, fangs and tails. As she dodged through bodies one of Kasumi's five tails shot out piercing straight through an oto-nin's core before quickly lifting and tossing the dying man into his comrades.

As the two demons cut into their ranks and dropped them quickly and steadily many of them seeing the numbers advantage meant nothing turned tail to run. As they retreated back through the forest Kurama stomped a foot to the ground sending out a pulse of his energy. In less than a minute the earth shook as the very trees groaned and twisted coming to life and in seconds terrified screams rang out from the forest.

* * *

From his position atop the Hokage Tower, Morino Ibiki looked down upon the village watching as the Oto-nin beat back a hasty retreat. Just as quickly as they had tried to attack them the Oto-nin themselves had been attacked by their supposed comrades of Suna. From his position he had a good view of just about everything and had watched it all seeing the Oto-nin either out fought by the leaf and sand shinobi or seeing them maneuver themselves into several of Takuno's cleverly placed traps, alley's had turned into deathtraps that hid anything from senbon and kunai launchers to even the rare elemental jutsu. He had also gotten reports from the clan districts that they had met with similar success, not one district had been successfully taken by the invaders. Many of the invaders had only been immobilized which would give him much to do in the time to come causing a grim smile to come across his face at the thought.

While he was in his thoughts however Sarutobi Hiruzen had dropped to one knee panting and covered in sweat as he watched as his former student was carried away quickly from the sight of their battle. With his gambit of sending Jiraiya to Suna during the break paying off in Suna turning on Oto it had freed up his mind so that he could focus completely on Orochimaru. In the end it had been his experience that had won him the battle, not just as a fighter but a tactician. With the Edo Tensei neutralized before it could come into effect Orochimaru had been on the ropes the entirety of their battle. Eventually he had been forced to release Enma as the Monkey King even in staff form could not take too many hits from the legendary Kusanagi without being affected.

Still Enma had given as better than he'd gotten managing to take a literal bite out of the Snake-nin taking the entirety of his lower left arm with him. Almost immediately Orochimaru had disengaged ordering his retreat. As they fled the Hokage made a subtle motion and immediately shadows began chasing after them, shadows that went by the name ANBU. With that battle won his next focus would have to go to the diminutive Tsuchikage in an effort to avoid a real war with Iwa.

AN: Well that's it. Not my best work in my opinion but its a start after so much inactivity. Other stories that i've started on will be updated soon enough as well as many of them have had work done even though I haven't given it my full attention. Anyway thanks for reading and please review. Till next time LATER


	17. Chapter 17

A Foxes Tale

Chapter 17

AN: Hello all, and welcome back. Firstly thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Now then for our next order of business update progression in truth I could have updated this a while back but I kept adding to it as I never quite liked where I ended it. That said I want everyone to understand that I do work full time, and on a computer and on my off hours I don't like typing so much so please excuse the longer wait time between updates. That said here's the new chapter.

Start Now:

Isolated within the forest surrounding Konoha blue and green eyes locked on each other with neither showing the emotions of their owner. Gaara was bound in chains wrapped around each of his limbs though that wasn't really necessary as he didn't even have the chakra to put up a fight. Just in front of Gaara sat Akemi within a meditative position her hands held firmly within an oddly shaped seal. Before their eyes she manipulated the seal that imprisoned the one tailed Lord of the Sand and not only strengthened it, adding multiple new layers but basically redesigned it. Naruto had returned fifteen minutes prior having returned to his full human state and hair once more red, though his eyes had remained blue.

"How, how are you so strong Uzumaki?" questioned Gaara speaking up for the first time since Naruto had abruptly ended their battle.

The question had been nagging at him since he first felt the true depths of the other boy's power. It had been massive, so massive and potent in fact he'd even felt it as the demon within him paused as if in shock. Nothing he had ever encountered had ever had that type of effect before and even now

"Good question. Lots of training for the most part, but there are multiple answers to that question, however in your case there is only one truth. Our reasoning is different, it's as simple as that. You fight only for yourself with no care whatsoever about others, one look in your eyes told me that. I fight for others, the humans for all of their flaws have managed to at least get that right. For me I fight for the children, those innocents who have yet to see the true ugliness of this world." Said the Uzumaki as he relaxed and looked up towards the sky.

"When I was little maybe five or six, the old man told me something that I've kept close to me ever since. The village is a family and while at times we may have our problems we all do our part to protect each other. As Hokage you become the head of the family, it becomes your job to safeguard them and place their burdens upon your own shoulders. It was then I decided that I'd become Hokage though not for the reasons most would expect. I couldn't care less about the recognition or respect of the old bastards, they'll all be dead soon enough. However the children are a different story, I want to ensure that no child, be they human, demon, hanyou, or container ever has to live a life like I did."

'Love, is that what love is?' thought Gaara silently.

"Hm this is interesting." Stated Akemi catching both of their attention.

"What is it?" questioned Naruto as he moved to be next to her.

"I figured out why this seal isn't working right, it's meant to work on humans and Gaara isn't human." Stated Akemi.

"I thought as much." Stated Naruto as he walked up.

"You knew?" questioned Akemi in surprise.

"Jiraiya told me that he had the Ichibi placed in him while he was still in the womb. Naturally that type of power would affect his development, so it was a reasonable thought he'd be at least part demon." Stated Naruto.

"Try half. It's because of that the seal is having so much trouble, trying to hold back the Ichibi, Gaara-san's youki and the other soul within him." informed the vixen.

"Can you fix it?" questioned Naruto.

"Normally doing something like that would be troublesome. However since the other soul is similar in feeling to Gaara's I can manage if I use the other soul as a medium I can install a new matrix into the seal to boost its power with that I can also use it as a transfer point using the soul as a buffer as the chakra of the Ichibi slowly transfers over to Gaara." Explained Akemi

Before anymore could be spoken however a plume of smoke appeared and quickly cleared to reveal a young toad. The toad itself was orange in color with purple markings around its eyes, mouth and stomach and wore a blue vest. The toads name was Gamakichi and he is the eldest son of the toad clans boss Gamabunta. He was actually the toad that he summoned the most as he found that he rather liked the little guy so would let him hang around as long as he wanted during his moth training. He knew the toad had quite the lively personality so it put him on edge when he saw the somber look that the young toad sported.

"What's wrong Gamakichi?" questioned the young Kitsune as he eyed the toad.

"It's the Hokage, it's bad, ero-sennin is waitin'."

The words had an immediate effect causing Naruto's eyes to widen before he was up and dashing back towards the village with all the speed he was capable of. Bursting into shunpo he made quick work of cutting through the forest before leaping off the branch of a tree and immediately summoning Kasumi once more in midair. As they landed much like one would a horse spurned her on the result having Kasumi pour in all of her speed becoming little more than a golden blur as she raced back to the village. As they neared the ruined gates Kasumi didn't even slow blowing right through with Naruto tucking himself in. Running through the village proper she slowed just enough to be made out as she dodged around or jumped all manner of obstacles until finally they slid to a stop in front of the hospital doors.

Thankfully Jiraiya met him at the hospital doors as even though he'd gotten pretty good at sensing energy he wasn't yet to the point where he could tell them apart or track one specifically. The Sannin led down to the lower level past a pair of chuunin standing guard at the lower level doors and past two more checkpoints before they arrived at a door guarded by a pair of ANBU operatives. Without the slightest bit of hesitation the ANBU members stepped aside allowing the two of them entry, where they found Asuma, and Konohamaru both sitting at the bedside of the Sandaime. Eyes widening at the sight of the old man hooked up to so many machines he froze and almost robotically moved into the room.

The old man was unconscious and Asuma was in the process of consoling a rather distraught Konohamaru as he focused Naruto could tell his energy was so low he could hardly feel it. Almost robotically he entered the room moving so that he was sitting at the old man's bedside with Konohamaru latching onto him immediately as he sat down though thankfully no longer crying. This proved to be just in time as another person took the moment to make his way into the room.

This man appeared to be within his late sixties and wore white hospital scrubs along with a lab coat. The top of his head was completely bald and only the sides and the back had a bit of aged white hair to them. Naruto knew the man well as the man was his private doctor someone whom the Sandaime had introduced him to when he had to get all his physical work done to enter the academy. His name is Hashimoto Hayato and was considered to be the second greatest medic-nin in the leaf villages history. He was also the man who had taught Tsunade the ground work of the medical field and like any real teacher there was none prouder than he himself was once he realized she had surpassed him in ability

"Hashimoto-sensei, how is he?" questioned Asuma as the man stepped into the room.

"Perhaps you would like to discuss that in private." Said the doctor.

Asuma thought about that for several minutes, as a shinobi and one who had spent plenty of time within the hospital due to injuries he knew there were certain things about doctor-patient confidentiality that the medic's were quite serious about sticking to. In fact the only person who those rules didn't apply to was the acting Hokage as the Hokage would need to be made aware of who was fit for duty and who was not. As he was family and considering the old man was currently out of it he understandably could be told, the question however was whether Jiraiya, Naruto, and Konohamaru needed to be told. In their own way all of them could be considered family however he knew how protective the old man was of Naruto and how proud he was of Jiraiya for the most part, Konohamaru was of course his blood grandson but he was still only seven years old. Still he nodding knowing he'd end up telling them all what was going on anyway.

"From what I've been able to determine with the test run things aren't good. Due to who he was fighting the first thing that was done was checking for any sign of poisoning which came up negative as far as substances are concerned. In fact from what I could tell there wasn't a single major blow landed to his body. The cause of his current condition however is what is known as chakra overload." Explained the doctor.

"I've never heard of such a thing." Said Asuma.

"It's when more chakra than the body can handle is circulated through it." Said Naruto with a frown.

"Very good Naruto-kun; how did you know? Most outside of medic-nin have never heard of it." Returned Hashimoto.

"During my training over the month I brought up learning to control my other chakra. However it was decided against as due to its potency, my age and body type I wouldn't be able to handle it." Explained the boy, information all three elder males filed away while Konohamaru just looked confused.

"Well as Naruto said chakra overload is when the power of ones chakra is more than the body can handle and while he has used far more chakra for far longer in the past that was well over 15 years ago. Over the last 12 years however Hiruzen has used a very minimal amount of chakra, perhaps just enough to light his pipe or other trivial things. Today was the first time he has actually used a large amount of chakra since the last great war and his organs simply couldn't handle it. During the battle he was fine but after the battle and once he stopped using his chakra he immediately collapsed due to a heart attack.

Due to his age and lack of physical activity that had a very high probability of happening but could be easily fixed. However adding his chakra into the mix had an entirely new affect as problems around major areas along both his blood and chakra circulatory systems occurred. Several of his tenketsu had been unable to handle the stress and as a result had ruptured worsening problems in his heart and causing one of his lungs to burst. There were several more problems but none that critical, unfortunately his body refused chakra treatment for the most part and we had to operate the old fashioned way. We were able to repair the damage to his heart and lung, and using a few seals we've directed his chakra into those seals as we can't fix the tenketsu. Unfortunately the damage had already been done and we could only ensure to make him as comfortable as possible."

As the doctor finished Konohamaru burst into tears once more clinging onto Naruto like a lifeline while he himself did his best to hold his own inside. For Jiraiya and Asuma it was easier to hold in their emotions having not only been trained for such things but having gone through several such occasions before as such while they appeared uncaring the two would break down once they were securely away from anyone who could see such a thing.

"How long?" questioned Asuma causing the doctor to sigh.

"According to my rough estimates even with the machines he's got three hours."

And for the next three hours none of them moved from the room all four of them sitting quietly as they reflected on their time with the man. For Jiraiya and Asuma they could mostly feel regret at the fact that they had wasted so much time. Jiraiya had spent the last twelve years outside of the village tracking down threats to the village and eliminating all threats to his godson on top of locating the whereabouts of the bijuu. The truth of the matter was he hadn't had to stay outside the village but had due to the fact that he'd been furious that the Sandaime had released the news of Naruto's connection to the Kyuubi and had refused to do so with his connection to his father.

The man had been blindly adamant in his beliefs in the villagers and it had come back to bite Naruto in the ass. He had pleaded with the man to let him take Naruto and raise him outside of the village and had been denied and told the man had decided the boy would grow up in an orphanage of all things. After that he had left and not stepped foot within Hi no Kuni using his summons to deliver his reports and to check up on Naruto secretly. The truth of the matter was he had only come back after the news of the 'Great Naruto Bridge' in Nami no Kuni had come to him and he'd wanted to know the story behind the name and catch up with the boy.

For Asuma the problem had been a lot more selfish and in hindsight foolish. He had felt that the man had been babying him with his over-protectiveness and as a jounin at the time hadn't liked it. When he'd been offered to join the Shogonin Junishi he had jumped at the opportunity to prove himself and step out of his father's shadow. His father had been furious at his acceptance and that had only made him feel better about the decision and he had only returned a year ago after some problems that had arisen within the group. Though he had been back for a year the relationship between the two of them had been strained quite badly and neither had really made a real effort to fix things.

For Naruto he remembered mostly good times. He remembered all of the times that the old man had come to the orphanage to visit and would tell them all stories about the super powered ninja that had left them all in awe. He remembered how he would summon some of the younger monkeys to play with them or just sit there and listen to whatever it was they had to say. When he had come and asked if anyone wanted to join the ninja academy he had jumped at the chance along with several of the others all of them eager to become one of the ninjas in the stories that they had been told. He had given them all an apartment within the same complex and an allowance bi-weekly for whatever expenses they had. Technically speaking he himself hadn't been there as the matron had already kicked him out earlier in the week but it hadn't taken the Sandaime long to track him and offer him the same deal. He remembered how the old man had first taken him to Ichiraku's and introduced him to ramen and all the times they had repeated the visit.

He remembered the proud look that he'd given him for earning his hitae-tae after all of the problems that had arisen for him to get it. He remembered his reaction and words after the mission to Nami no Kuni and most recently he remembered his words after he had finally unveiled his Shunpo. He remembered his reactions when he had first summoned his mother from out of the seal to speak with him and the time he'd gotten him with his Oiroke no jutsu and even the time he'd painted the Hokage Monument where he and the old man had talked and laughed about it and the chase he'd given the ninja around the village.

When the three hours passed they had all watched silently as the old man's chest went still. There were no emergency sirens blared as doctor Hashimoto was already within the room. Naruto watched as the old man's spirit left his body and looked down at his own body with what looked like acceptance in his eyes. He could only watch stunned as the spirits body glowed briefly before changing into a butterfly and flying away. Numb the teen made his way out of the room and passed the ANBU guards walking through the hospital without a word to anyone before he vanished into Shunpo upon reaching the outside. After several minutes of constant movement he appeared on top of the Sandaime's head on the Hokage Monument and finally alone roared up at the heavens the pain and sorrow within the sound heard all over the village before he fell to his knees and slammed his palms to the ground beneath him ignoring the feeling of the earth shaking beneath him. The next thing he knew would be blissful unconsciousness and he would not notice that behind the monument a part that had been barren of life for over a decade was now a miniature forest in itself.

* * *

Elsewhere a buxom blond sat within a hotel room ignoring the trail of tears that adorned her face as she held a scroll tightly in hand. The day had started and gone pretty much normally; she had hit the casino losing constantly and had been on her way to get something to eat when a puff of smoke had occurred just in front of her. When the smoke cleared a monkey had stood in front of her and handed her the scroll before disappearing without a word spoken. She had recognized the monkey as one of the summon creatures her old teacher held a contract with and that was the only reason she hadn't punted it or tossed the scroll over her shoulders to be forgotten. Instead knowing that the scroll was probably important and against her first instinct she had retreated back into her hotel room to read it in private.

_Tsunade_ it had read, _if you are reading this than I fear the worst has happened and I have passed on. The last few months have not been kind and I have begun to feel my age. Regardless that is not why I have prepared this scroll for you, but instead to update and warn you. First and foremost I should inform you that your time as a wanderer has come to an end I have allowed it as we are in a time of peace and your legacy prepared a suitable amount of medics for the village. However certain factors of the council have been demanding your return and I fear that the next Hokage will not be so lenient on you. More importantly however I must inform you of a secret that had been kept from you, though not of my choice._

_Back during the war after Dan's passing you went through a rough time constantly drinking, something I tried to stop as alcohol is no friend to the Senju. However despite this you were still our best and brightest and as long as you were sober I allowed you to take to the field. On your last mission you were wounded as you know and spent the next few months in a coma. What I did not learn until much later however was that you were pregnant at the time. You were comatose even when the baby reached the ninth month and when you showed no signs of waking the baby was removed from you without my knowledge. It was a healthy baby boy seven pounds eight ounces if my research was correct._

At this point her eyes had widened as the implications of this had set into her mind. She had known she was pregnant for a time and had been contemplating retirement when she went on that mission. However she was told upon awakening that she had lost her baby by the elders who were the first to see her when she awoke. That had been the reason she had left, after all she'd had no reason to stay she had lost her brother, her lover and then she found that she had lost her baby. It had been the last straw and she had wasted no time in leaving and had stuck to her word to never return.

_I did not find out for nearly ten years when a certain child caught my eye. First and foremost he was blond and that immediately raised a red flag with me as blondes are quite rare in Konoha as you know. So I did some digging and found that his genetics did not match up with that of anyone we had on record, so I went into the sealed records. One was obviously yours and the others was his fathers, it was Jiraiya's. Over time I tried to get in contact with you through the normal routes as I didn't wish to draw attention to what I was doing, you dodged my messengers. So I did the next best thing I made him one of Jiraiya's students in his gennin team. Almost immediately they bonded to such a degree that it was no wonder when Jiraiya asked him to be his apprentice after he made chuunin. As I'm sure you've realized by now your son eventually became the 'Yellow Flash' and my successor to the title of Hokage. _

_I had once asked Jiraiya after getting him stone faced drunk with some of Enma's stash, and he honestly had no idea what had happened between the two of you yet he still saw Minato as his own son. However I could never in good conscious tell him the truth, not without you yourself there to tell him. For a time things had looked up Minato had even gotten married as you know, then tragedy struck. Kushina went into labor and somehow the Kyuubi was released, which I only recently learned was no accident. Minato sacrificed himself and sealed the Kyubi into his son, a boy he named Naruto after a character in Jiraiya's first book one, much more tasteful entitled Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. For the last twelve years I have tried to get you to come back to help him. The council behind my back released the news of him being the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi and his life for the most part was an utter hell. However that changed just recently the night of his graduation the guardian of the seal awoke and it was Kushina. More than that with her awakening certain parts of Naruto changed and we discovered something startling, he could use Mokuton._

Throughout this time she had been using her training to hold her emotions back but this revelation had caused her to nearly drop the scroll in her shock. The Mokuton was thought to be impossible to use by anyone but her grandfather the Shodai Hokage. Her mother had been unable to use it, she'd been unable to use it and Nawaki had been unable to use it. No one had been able to figure out the secret behind it and that is in part what made her grandfather so revered as what he had done had been impossible for even his direct descendants. At the same time pride made its way into her as it was her grandson that had discovered the secret all on his own.

_For a while I forbid him from using it, knowing the can of worms it would open and he was fine with that. However recently trouble reared its snake-like head as Orochimaru infiltrated the Chuunin Exams in an effort to brand his teammate Uchiha Sasuke with the cursed seal. His initial attempt failed as Naruto held another technique in reserve which had allowed him to escape Orochimaru with his teammates. During the preliminaries Naruto killed Orochimaru's right hand who had been acting as a spy in the village, which was somehow missed. In retaliation Orochimaru ordered his assassination, and sent Guren a kunoichi he trained who possessed the Shoton Kekki Genkai. Naruto beat her and so badly she revealed that Orochimaru planned to invade Konoha with the aid of Suna during the final tournament, even worse Suna had sent the Ichibi jinchuuriki Sabaku no Gaara. Orochimaru made a mistake however as Guren was part of a team sent to assassinate the Yondaime Kazekage and I have Jiraiya heading that way now where he will 'discover' the Kazekage's corpse._

_I have assigned Naruto the mission to handle Gaara through any means and have authorized him to use his full capabilities should he deem it necessary. As I stated earlier I have written this scroll as a worst case scenario to be given to you at the time of my death. I have likewise had a scroll delivered to the Daimyo for this scenario as well, and knowing him he will do his best to run things while things are hectic. But it is imperative that you return Tsunade as either you yourself or Jiraiya must assume the role of Hokage, there is no one else I can entrust Naruto's future with._

For a while she just sat there in the chair at the small wooden table looking out over the village she was staying in. This was exactly how her own apprentice saw her when she arrived, it was also her arrival that got the woman moving. Standing to her feet she faced her apprentice with the most serious expression she had donned in years with eyes burning with determination.

"Shizune pack up. We're going home."

* * *

When Naruto awoke an hour later he found himself lying with his head in his mother's lap. He clung to her doing nothing to hide his feelings from her even as she wiped his face to remove the tear tracks that stained it. Composing himself after a few minutes he turned so that he was no longer on his side but on his back so that he could look up at the clouds. As he did he caught sight of another woman who stood at about 5'5" and appeared to be about 18 and had long bright red hair that was tied into six braids that fell to near her ankles looking more like tails than anything else. Her eyes were larger round violet orbs much like his own blue ones looking down into his own eyes.

"Hello Kurama." Stated the woman her tone calm but gentle.

"Sochi this is Kimiko." Said Kushina causing Naruto's eyes to widen at the words and as if a signal was given the woman glomped him.

"OH he's so cute!" exclaimed the woman as the teen struggled for dear life as he found his face buried in his sisters chest area before cringing as she squealed yet again.

"Kaa-sama his hair feels like fur!" exclaimed the girl before she began running her hand through his hair.

It was here that Naruto did something he had never done before, something that he would deny with all of his being for the rest of his life, or until the moment was forgotten whichever came first, he purred. Immediately the hands froze as did all movement and sound before both mother and daughter squealed and pounced upon him with reckless abandon. Eventually however the two let up and Naruto found himself lying with his head in Kimiko's lap as she continued to run her hands through his hair.

"So Miko-chan care to enlighten me on what's been going on the last few decades." Said Kushina after the horseplay had died down.

"Well as you know I spent a lot of time training. Aside from that after you decided that you were going to take this vacation of yours it was decided that I would manage things until you returned. Of course things got really interesting once rumors came about that you had a son. Speaking of why wasn't I informed?" explained Kimiko causing Kushina to rub the back of her head.

"Honestly I had wanted to bring him and introduce him in person and I didn't want anyone to know about him before you did. As for why that didn't happen I ended up getting sealed inside him so we only recently came into contact with each other."

As Kushina said this Kimiko's hand stilled for several moments in shock before she resumed running it through his hair.

"You too, how the hell did that happen?" questioned the younger woman.

So Kushina told her of the things that had happened from her trip to Uzu to pay her respects to Naruto's birth and all the drama that had unfolded through that night and what she knew of Naruto's life after. It was a testament to both her training and self-control that Kimiko did not release her killing intent once during the story especially on hearing of the person who had the gall to attack her mother and of how the humans had been treating her brother. Despite all the things that humans were capable of now the village would not have stood a chance if she lost her temper as her killing intent alone would have killed many even if she didn't assume her full demon form. Suddenly three pairs of ears twitched and Naruto who was nearly sleep was wide awake as an ANBU member materialized upon the mountain face with them. Looking them over they found it was a male with Ape mask and still in his combat mode judging by the dried blood staining his attire.

"Uzumaki-san your presence has been called for in the council chamber." Stated the ANBU member with a hint of respect in his voice.

"Fine, though I wish they'd have waited." Said Naruto before slowly standing to his feet at the same time both Kushina and Kimiko had stood as well surprising the masked man.

"Well lead the way ototo." Said Kimiko.

Naruto frowned as he turned to look out over the village taking stock in his reiatsu levels. Though nowhere near full strength he'd recovered enough energy for a bit of travel turning towards the ANBU he gave a brief nod before vanishing in a burst of Shunpo. As he left both Kushina and Kimiko vanished in whirls of water and fire respectively leaving a shocked killer in their wake quickly shaking it off however he himself left in a plume of smoke and a whirl of leaves. Naruto panted as he came out of his Shunpo not long later at the entrance to the tower his forehead already covered in sweat. Normally the little bit of travel he did would have been nothing major but with all he had done that day he was finding that he was more tired than he actually realized. Not two seconds later both his mother and sister appeared shocking the hell out of a group of chuunin. Regardless they made their way through the tower administrative building Naruto leading the way with the familiarity only someone who spent much time there could.

As he passed many of the shinobi spared him a brief nod of acknowledgement though none stopped to speak. Naruto wondered what had caused that as he was pretty sure not many people would have done so before that day. As they reached the council chamber they found Jiraiya leaning on the wall waiting for them and by his expression he was obviously displeased but motioned for the ANBU guarding the doors to open them; they hesitated spotting who was with Naruto but one glare from Jiraiya stopped all resistance. Upon entering Naruto found all of the clan heads in attendance, along with all of the jounin-sensei that he knew and Iruka shockingly enough. Other than that a number of civilians were there including one who he recognized as Sakura's dad who spared him a brief nod as they locked eyes.

"Before we begin I'd like to apologize Asuma-kun, Jiraiya-san, and Naruto-san as I know all of you are still grieving."

The man who spoke was sitting within the seat used by the Hokage and was an older man in his sixties. He had long grey hair pulled back in a topknot and wore a pair of deep red and black robes with the crest of Hi no Kuni stamped upon them. Naruto had seen him once before when he was about eight and the Sandaime had introduced him as the daimyo, he was a legendary figure from the shinobi wars named Tokugawa Ieyasu made legendary for slaughtering fifty jounin on his own when they'd breached his home in his early adulthood. More than that he was well liked because unlike most of the daimyo he made it a point to fight on the frontlines whenever he was able.

"Apologies are unnecessary Ieyasu-sama but much appreciated." Stated Jiraiya getting an understanding nod from the man.

"Before we begin I'd like to know who the two of you are?" spoke Koharu looking pointedly at the two women Naruto had entered with.

"Surely you have not forgotten me already Koharu, it has only been twelve and a half years." Stated Kushina causing the woman's eyes to narrow.

"Uzumaki Kushina how is this possible, you're supposed to be dead." Stated Homura in surprise.

"I'm sorry that is classified information which cannot be discussed in present company." Stated Kushina looking pointedly at the civilians getting an understanding nod from the elder.

"And you young lady I do not believe I have met you before." Said Homura.

"Indeed you haven't. I am Uzumaki Kimiko, my purpose here was to observe my brothers progress in the exams and now ensure his protection." Stated Kimiko placing a hand on Naruto's head.

"As interesting as this is can we get back on track please? I have many things to arrange still and a grief stricken nephew to console." Stated Asuma bringing everyone back to the matter at hand.

"Of course. Shikaku-san if you please." Stated the Daimyo causing the Nara to nod.

"Firstly Naruto-san I wish to congratulate you on the success of your mission. Your actions prevented many lives from being needlessly lost." Stated Shikaku causing Naruto to narrow his eyes.

"How could you know I had succeeded without me saying anything about it. There was no one within five hundred meters of our battle I made sure of it and even the most powerful Byakugan can't see that far." Said Naruto in shock.

"True enough, however you forget of some of our more subtle clans it seems." Stated Shibi as a bug appeared floating around Naruto causing his eyes to widen in shock.

"While defeating Gaara was your mission we always have a backup plan and a team of ANBU was positioned so that they could aid you if needed." Stated Shibi.

This was not what Naruto wanted to hear however as he had gone to great lengths to hide the depths of his abilities. In response to his irritation with the news and the day that he'd had thus far Benehime began to rattle and Naruto had to place a hand upon it to get the rattling to cease. For several moments all was silent as he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath exhaling slowly to regain his composure.

Seeing him regaining himself Shikaku had to withhold a smirk before he continued.

"As I said I wanted to congratulate you on a job well done. However we do have a number of questions regarding the range of skills you displayed." Stated Shikaku, Naruto said nothing and Shikaku took it as a sign to continue.

"The abilities of your sword, and of your Shunpo technique were already known as was the lightning technique as you used all of these during the preliminaries. However you demonstrated a number of techniques of which there was no recorded information including the manipulation of plants, even more you managed to use Mokuton techniques we would just like an explanation as to how." Explained Shikaku causing Naruto to turn to his mother who nodded causing Naruto to sigh.

"Well that's a bit difficult to answer. All of the plant techniques I created and Jiraiya-sensei can vouch for that. As for many of the other techniques they are like Byakurai techniques that were designed for me as they require reiryoku." Explained Naruto.

"I've never heard of such a thing, what is it?" Said Koharu.

"Reiryoku simply put is pure spiritual energy. As you know the human body contains both physical and spiritual energy which combines to make chakra. Each person also holds reiryoku, this however is usually unusable as our bodies automatically form chakra. However I'm a special case as my seal is primarily made of reiryoku of the Shinigami. More than that I did actually die before and it allowed me to access that energy." Explained Naruto causing many to look thoughtful.

"What about the Mokuton, how could you do it?" questioned one of the civilian council members causing Naruto to frown.

"A good question." Stated Shibi which Naruto correctly interpreted to mean it needed answering.

"From what I was told Mokuton is different than other sub-elements. No two people can do it the same way, sure the technique seals are the same but the composition is different for each person. From what I understand everyone before me tried doing it the same way the Shodai did, I didn't have that formal training and subconsciously changed the composition after each failure until I eventually found one that worked for me." Said Naruto for several long moments it was silent as everyone was in though until Homura spoke once more.

"According to the report we received you have the ability to summon kitsune's. Firstly I never knew such a contract existed, how did you come across it." Questioned Homura

"I created it." Stated Kushina shocking everyone and causing all eyes to focus on her.

"When I first discovered I was pregnant with him I decided to create the contract." Explained Kushina.

"Wait a minute I thought he was an orphan! And why the hell would you want to create a contract with those monsters." Exclaimed a civilian councilman.

Suddenly a strangled gasp escaped him and he slammed face first into the table struggling to breathe let alone pick himself up. While most were trying to figure out what had happened Kushina placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder and after several long moments the pressure left the man as he desperately drew in much needed air.

"You'll have to excuse my son, he has had a most trying day and as you can see he is not in a very good mood." Stated Kushina while the man could only nod shakily.

"What just happened?" questioned Chouza.

"What you just witnessed was the effect Naruto's reiatsu has on people. Reiatsu is simply put the pressure his reiryoku generates when it is released. We're still working on his temper and this sometimes happens when he's irritated, though thankfully he's learned to focus it." Stated Kushina.

"As for why I created the contract, why shouldn't the son of the Kyuubi possess such a contract."

Her statement had an immediate effect as the civilians were immediately up and shouting while many of the shinobi in the room went wide eyed in surprise and several tensed. However Jiraiya quickly reminded everyone of his presence as a fierce killing intent filled the room causing an immediate silence to overcome the place before he cut his intent.

"Uzumaki-san would you mind explaining that last bit?" asked the daimyo.

"Tell me what do you all know of the Kyuubi, not rumors but actual fact?" questioned Kushina.

"It is a being of pure chakra with abilities over fire, water and earth capable of causing untold amounts of devastation with just a swing of a tail." Said Shikaku

"Anything else?" questioned Kimiko with a raised eyebrow.

"Unfortunately most of what we know is mere rumor nothing that has been proven as absolute fact."

"Inari-sama humans are such morons." Muttered younger Uzumaki woman shaking her head in disbelief.

"Firstly you need to know that Kyuubi is a title like Hokage. Secondly the Kyuubi and the bijuu in general are beings created initially by the Rikudo Sannin. They were each once part of the same whole which was known as the Juubi a monstrous beast which the sage fought and sealed within himself. During the later years of his life he created the bijuu so that the Juubi would not reform upon his death. For centuries they lived within the lands which you now call the elemental nations and became collectively known as the Lords of the Northern Lands. Nearly one hundred years ago I was born very much premature and would have died within my first week of life, my father prayed to the Gods to spare my life and Inari-sama spared my life, however Inari-sama changed me and made me a Kitsune.

However there was a price, it was stated that I would be needed and thus was taken to train. Years later I was evacuated from Uzu no Kuni with a group of refugees, where I met Uzumaki Mito. Within her she held sealed the original Kyubi and I knew that I was to become his successor. When they transferred my predecessor from Mito into myself I gained all of the knowledge of the former Kyubi and I in turn became the Kyuubi. As for what happened those few years ago, Naruto's birth had left me very much weakened and as such I was attacked and forced into a genjutsu in which I was mentally tortured and as a result lost control of my power and transformed. When Shinigami-sama was summoned however he knew of the situation and instead of devouring our souls sealed me inside of my son so that I could watch over him." explained Kushina.

"I don't understand if that was the case why wasn't anyone told?" questioned Tsume.

"It was decided that it wasn't something that needed to be shared, as we had too many problems within the village. However I knew, as I could sense the difference in her energy and Minato knew so it was enough. Aside from that explaining her abilities would be seen much like explaining the secrets of the Byakugan and Jyuken, or the Ino-Shika-Cho techniques to others outside of that clan. When Naruto was born an announcement was supposed to be made but Kushina was attacked and you all know the results." Stated Jiraiya.

"It was an Uchiha who attacked you wasn't it." Stated Kakashi surprising everyone and bringing the rooms attention to himself.

"During our teams' first meeting Naruto stated his goal was to utterly destroy a certain Uchiha." Said Kakashi.

"Correct, it was an Uchiha. Originally I wasn't going to reveal this information but it seems the reason for that has been negated." Said Kushina.

Before anyone else could speak there was a plume of smoke that erupted. When it cleared a small kit could be seen unlike most Kitsune however this one stood up on two feet and wore a pair of red and white shoes and a pair of white gloves. His fur was golden with white tipped ears and two tails also tipped white.

"Nii-san that Gaara guy has made it out of Hi no Kuni. Akemi-san said that she left him and his siblings right at the border." Said the Kitsune in a high pitched childlike voice.

"Thanks Teirusu, I'll call you back later for that snack I promised ok." Said Naruto as he pet the little guy atop the head getting a large grin before the little guy vanished into smoke.

"You summoned Akemi?" questioned Kimiko with a raised eyebrow.

"Gaara's seal was shit. Even I could do better than that thing was and I'm nowhere near good enough in fuinjutsu to be messing around with soul binding seals." Said Naruto with a look of disgust on his face.

"I have a question what does him being a demon mean?" questioned Sakura's dad bringing everyone back to the subject they were discussing.

"Technically speaking I'm a Hanyou, half human/ half demon. As far as I know I have enhanced senses and more potent chakra. I don't know much else since I just recently found this out." Said Naruto.

"Well we'll find out soon enough. Tsunade sent a message stating that she was on her way here, sensei apparently sent her a letter and she's pissed." Said Jiraiya

"Well surely there's something you can tell us aside from that." Stated Sakura's dad once more.

"Not really he's the first Hanyou born in a few centuries. Most demons don't like to associate with Humans." Explained Kushina

"Now I have a question. Who was the dumbass that decided sealing away the bijuu was a good idea?" questioned Kimiko

"Hold your tongue! It was our Shodai that initially did it and told the other nations how to." Said Koharu.

"I will hold nothing mortal! Do you have any idea what you have done! The only reason these lands are this peaceful is because of the bijuu as no demon in their right mind would dare try to take on nine Daiyouki. But because you decided it was prudent to seal them away and use them as your personal weapons you've left the entire Northern Land open to a full scale invasion! The only reason we are not at war now is because we've been doing our damndest to make it seem like nothing is wrong! If the other lands learn of what happened we'll be slaughtered!" exclaimed Kimiko her eyes glowing red in her anger only for Naruto to place his hand on her own.

"Calm down they didn't know any better. You forget sister that humans are still children they'll learn with time." Stated Naruto catching the entire room's attention.

"What's done is done, all we can do is run damage control at this point." Said Kushina in agreement with her son.

"What are you all talking about?" questioned one of the civilians.

"Something you don't need to worry about." Said Naruto

"That's right what we need to focus on is quelling any thoughts the other nations may be having after the invasion." Stated Jiraiya

"He's right, don't forget the Tsuchikage was here." Stated Inoichi.

"We also need to do something to boost the morale of the villagers after the attack. I'm thinking we should announce Naruto's parentage to the village." Stated Tsume.

"Now's not the time." Stated Shikaku surprising everyone.

"While that might work for the villagers it may also antagonize Iwa into attacking. He may have been able to take on Gaara but the two in Iwa are way more experienced than he is." Said Shikaku causing several people to grimace.

"Do you need me here for anything else?" questioned Naruto.

"I do have something to say that involves you." Stated Ieyasu reminding everyone of his presence.

"One month ago Hiruzen sent me a letter regarding you and your actions which led to the discovery of the invasion and that you were the one who provided many of the plans used to counter it. As you know your promotion to chuunin was already guaranteed for that. However he was worried about what would happen after the invasion if he wasn't around. I have decided that while eligible for the CRA you are not to be pushed into it. Furthermore even if you do participate you will not be forced to have any number at any given time, nor will any be picked for you. For the time being your orders will come directly from myself or Shikaku-san until such time as I have appointed a new Hokage.

I also had an auditor go through the Uzumaki accounts in the time leading up to the exams and they found the numbers highly irregular. All taken funds will be returned with interest as I know neither yourself nor your mother had access to the account in the last twelve years." Said the man causing Naruto's eyes to widen for a moment before he nodded his thanks and understanding.

"Furthermore a few months ago you brought in a man by the name of Gato. I think it would please you to know that he has been sentenced to life imprisonment. I will leave it up to you whether we will announce the truth of the attack to the village populace once the new Hokage has been chosen. You have the rest of the time off until after the memorial." Stated Ieyasu getting an appreciative smile from the boy who thanked him and left along with his mother and sister.

* * *

Elsewhere Temari and Kankuro watched nervously as Gaara tossed and turned in his sleep, just the sight of him sleeping causing them to go on edge and stay there ready to bolt at a moments notice. They had finally found Gaara after escaping during all of the chaos of the invasion of the leaf village only to find him held tightly in chains glowing that had been glowing blue with chakra. Sitting in front of him had been a woman wearing some the robes of a priestess only instead of a woman it had been a Kitsune, an honest to Kami Kitsune. Before they could move to help him they had found themselves imprisoned within some type of barrier before blacking out and waking up there. While they were watching him however Gaara himself was going through an experience that would forever change him.

Walking through sand, which was a first for him as he couldn't control it for some reason he came across the sight of Shukaku actually dozing peacefully. Beside the beast he could only watched as a figure made their appearance in a whirl of sand that was quick to solidify and take shape. The form it took was that of a woman with shoulder length sandy-brown hair and deep indigo colored eyes. She wore a brown blouse the cusps of which were tan as was the bottom portion of the shirt. She also wore a beige skirt with black spandex shorts underneath which came to just before her knees while a mesh stocking covered her left leg and her right was bare, leading to black sandals. She had a Suna issued hitae-tae tied around her waist with a red cloth though the metal hung at her left hip. Finally a long yellow scarf was wrapped around her neck.

"Hello Gaara." Greeted the woman her voice actually causing him to relax.

"Mother."

The smile she gave at the single word, that title would have lit the sky with its brightness. This meeting would change his life, his very destiny and though no one knew it at this point and time it would was the beginning of a legend that would live on for all time.

* * *

It had taken only a couple hours travelling at the speeds they had but before the day had let out the two women had covered the ground and arrived at the gates of the hidden leaf village gates that were only barely there. They weren't stopped long, only long enough to verify their identities and then they were through and already they could see shinobi and kunoichi running to and fro in the aftermath of the invasion. They could see that many buildings had been damaged by what looked to be a massive snake judging by the damage but it had obviously been stopped, even still it had done enough damage Even still they wouldn't stop to investigate or offer aid, and while the younger of the two wouldn't have minded the elder was on a mission and nothing was going to sidetrack her. It was only as they reached the entrance to the administrative building that they came to a stop.

"Shizune, go help them out at the hospital." Stated the woman.

"Tsunade-sama…" started the woman in confusion.

"Go Shizune."

With her tone and the setting of her face the woman bowed slightly and took off. Over the years she had learned that there were some facets of her mentors personality that she did not want her to witness. Sure she'd seen her drunk enough to be reduced to tears, and had been on the receiving end of a few of her drunken advances but there were times that the woman got into a mood where she didn't want her anywhere near her. For the most part she understood that, Tsunade for all of her faults was a living legend and aside from the legends of her prowess at healing she was feared for her herculean strength and Shizune for all of her training could not survive anywhere the woman lost her temper. Once she was sure her apprentice was a suitable distance away the slug Sannin entered the building and made her way quickly to where she knew the council would be meeting. Coming to the room she completely ignored the ANBU that tried stopping her and when one actually tried physically she grabbed him and threw him into and through the door. As she entered all eyes were on the woman who looked at the room with cold brown eyes. She ignored everyone as Homura after recognizing her approached her with what he thought were disarming words.

"Tsundae-hime while it is good to see you again did you have to throw the poor boy through a door." Said the old man.

Tsunade said nothing for in an instance so quick the man himself had been flung across the room like a rag doll with the woman holding out the instrument of his assault, her index finger. Paling at the show of strength from the woman the civilians decided to keep themselves quite as did many of the shinobi council members. While the woman than turned her gaze onto Koharu.

"That was a warning and he should only be unconscious however if you don't answer me truthfully old bitch I will liquefy your insides, slowly and I'll make it a thousand times worse than the fast death I'm planning on giving you." Said Tsunade her gaze turning even colder if that was possible.

"Tsunade, perhaps you'd like to explain what has brought you here and in such a mood." Stated another male.

Despite the haze that her rage had on her Tsunade recognized the voice and turned her gaze towards it and sure enough Tokugawa Ieyasu was sitting there. In order to ensure that she could not be recalled by Konoha at any point in time she had gone to work for the Daimyou and had done so for three years before she was released with his permission to travel wherever she saw fit and a pass through any country within the elemental nations. He had never asked her of the finer details for her desire to leave Konoha behind her which was a plus in her book at the time so she supposed she owed him an answer.

"This bitch and that decrepit old man that I'll kill in a minute decided it was a prudent move to have my son removed from my womb while I was in a coma and then lie and tell me he had died."

That single sentence caused the room to be consumed with a deadly silence and an immediate understanding of both why the legendary medic had left but her sudden return for everyone within the room.

The revelation had a different effect on Koharu however as she straightened and actually glared at Tsunade as if such a look would intimidate her.

"So what, it was for the best. Everyone around you was dying and in five years the entirety of the Senju clan had been reduced to just you, you were a curse and could not be trusted with the future of such a clan, especially not at seventeen years old." Said Koharu.

Tsunade took a single step and in the next instant found herself held within a pair of strong arms while Koharu looked at her smugly.

"Tsunade-hime I understand your feelings and you deserve it but you can't kill a member of the elder council especially not in front of the Daimyo." Warned Jiraiya.

"You don't understand my feelings at all but you will." Stated Tsunade her eyes not leaving that of Koharu's.

"I was in a coma for almost a year Jiraiya. I had only found out the day that I went under that I was pregnant. I was a drunken mess and I didn't know who the father could be as Dan had died five months prior and I was three months along. Sarutobi-sensei found out though and since he couldn't tell the father to his face, without me knowing it, he put him on his gennin team, on your team."

Just hearing that tidbit Jiraiya slackened his grip allowing for Tsunade to break free. Even still his mind was elsewhere running a mile a minute at the implications, it was easy to deduce who she was speaking of. Minato had been the only orphan on his team and despite the other two being from shinobi backgrounds he'd been not only the most gifted but the one he'd felt closest to. He and Minato had shared many of the same habits except his more perverted ones. Suddenly strange comments his sensei made that he'd always brushed aside now made sense, other things were also beginning to make sense as well like the strange curiosity the two elders had always had concerning Minato. At the time he'd brushed it off thinking they'd been like everyone else who wanted to know who the genius was that had came out of seemingly nowhere and simply had wondered what his limits were.

While Jiraiya was lost in thought coming to terms with the new information that had been presented to him Tsunade simply watched surprising everyone that she wasn't taking advantage of the moment. However those people didn't know Jiraiya like she did, she knew exactly what the information she'd just given him would cause. Sure enough Jiraiya's expression changed as an oppressive aura took over the entire room however before anything else could be said or done Ieyasu's own presence filled the room bringing all attention back to himself.

"I have heard enough, Tsunade, Jiraiya-san while I understand your want of retribution I will see no more blood spilled this day." Stated the Daimyo is tone leaving no room for argument.

"However the actions of the elders cannot go unpunished. As a final favor to my late friend Hiruzen I will spare your lives. However I sentence you to imprisonment to spend the remainder of your lives in the Crematoria facility."

You could hear a pin drop in the room with that sentence. Of all the prisons within the elemental nations Crematoria was the worst. Though no one knew exactly how the architects had managed to build the place within an active volcano beneath the lava. In the history of the place no one had ever escaped, it was a place people were sent to be forgotten and die. As Koharu was sputtering in shock she was unaware of the ANBU member that materialized behind her and swiftly knocked her out with a chop to the neck. Not a single shinobi member of the council spared them a glance as the two elders were whisked away no doubt to be held in confinement and have their chakra sealed away along with whatever sensitive information they were privy to so that it couldn't be used against the village.

"Now then as those two are taken care of we can move on to the next bit of business. I was going to wait until I was able to dispatch someone to get you but as you are here now we can get this settled." Stated the daimyo turning his gaze onto Tsunade.

"I have given you ample time to travel and live life at your leisure. Now however I need to know what you intend to do from here on out."

Tsunade paused at the question and everyone within the room waited for her answer. Her first instinct was to get the hell out of dodge as quick as she could, she had come to settle the score with the elders for stripping her of her chance at motherhood and though she hadn't spilled their blood justice had at least been served. However she had another reason to be here now, her son had a child of his own who had gone so long with no one but the old man to support him and with her sensei dead he would have no one. Instinct told her to take the boy and go but she knew there was no way that would happen so there was really only one choice even if it galled her. However she let no one see how much she disliked her decision as she squared her shoulders and looked the man in the eyes.

"I'll be staying here, I've done enough traveling and I have a grandson to raise." Stated Tsunade getting a nod from the man.

"In that case we must unfortunately move on to the next and perhaps most important piece of business, the selection of a new Hokage." Stated the Daimyo causing both of the Sannin to tense.

"Hiruzen had already chosen his successor, however at this point in time I think we can all agree that young Naruto has a way to go before we can elevate him to such a role." Said the man getting several nods in agreement, though a few scowled at the mention of the boy.

"As such realistically speaking there are only two available choices the two of you." Stated the man.

"It should be Tsunade." Stated Jiraiya quickly only for said woman to turn and glare at him.

"Oh hell no pervert you do it, just because I came back here doesn't mean I want that damn hat." Said Tsunade heatedly.

"I seem to recall a certain kunoichi posing in a picture wearing that hat." Said Jiraiya causing the woman to fume.

"I was nine, I didn't know any better." Defended the woman

'_These two are supposed to be the famous Sannin_'

Several people within the room thought and sweat dropped as the two went on with their argument. Of course what none of them knew was that while there were plenty of perks to the job, there was one major downside that most only learned about after they became Hokage, paperwork. Now any shinobi of chuunin rank or better wasn't a stranger to paperwork however as Hokage it transformed from a minor annoyance to the bane of one's existence, and that was just on a normal day to day basis. Tsunade and Jiraiya had been shinobi during war time and had both seen Hokage's break due to the workload and didn't want to even imagine the nightmare it would be after an invasion.

"Okay how about we put this discussion on the shelf for the time being." Said Ieyasu bringing that argument to a close.

* * *

The memorial for the Sandaime Hokage and everyone who had fallen in the invasion was a massive affair. It had taken three days to get everything in order and every member of every clan was in attendance as was anyone who had a hitae-tae, all of them even Hyuga Main House members wearing them on their foreheads in honor of their fallen in their black memorial attire. Of the shinobi to pass on that day only the Sandaime had been given a funeral and burial within the Hokage's graveyard whereas all others had their bodies burned to protect village secrets. Naruto stood at the head of the procession with Konohamaru to his left between himself and Asuma, while Tsunade and Jiraiya chose to stand behind him and Iruka stood to his left.

One by one people lined up to place a white flower atop a pedestal in honor of the fallen. No words were spoken and aside from those without a hitae-tae not a single tear was shed. For some it may have seemed strange however to them it was a form of respect given to abide by the rules set down for them to live by and giving no outward sign of how any of them were feeling at that moment. As the procession broke up and those attending left to go on about their day none of them was aware of the pair of figures overlooking the village, one of which looked down with a pair of red eyes with three tomoe-like markings within them.

AN: Well that's it chapters done. As this was the aftermath chapter there was no action to speak of however I think it was good all things considered. As always I like hearing your opinions so as always thanks for reading and please review. Till next time LATER


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